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THE 



MASK OF COMUS. 



JOHN MILTON. 



EDITED WITH COPIOUS EXPLANATORY NOTES, AND WITH 

EXERCISES IN SYNONYMES, FOR THE USE OF CLASSES 

IN READING, ANALYSIS, AND PARSING, 



BY 
HOMER B. SPRAGUE, A.M., Ph.D., 

Late Pkincipal of the Adelphi Academt, and formekly Professor of Rhetoric 
IN CoKNELL University. 



NEW YORK: 

J. W. Schermerhorn & Co., 

No. 14 Bond Street. 
1876. 




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Copyright, 

HOj^IER b. sprague, 
1870. 



New York ; Lange, Little & Co., Printers. 
Nos. 10 to 20 Astor Place. 



PEEFAOE. 



' A STRONG desire has been expressed, in quarters entitled to distinguished 
consideration, to have the parts included in the Masterpieces in English 
Literature bound up separately, for class use in reading, analysis, parsing, 
and rhetorical criticism. In compliance with this wish, Milton's Comus 
has been selected from the body of the Masterpieces^ and is here presented 
with explanatory notes. At the bottom of most of the pages are lists of 
synonymes, which it may be well for the reader to study and illustrate. 
The judicious teacher can supply others ad libitum. 

If this little work shall at all contribute to a better knowledge and 
appreciation of Milton's most elegant masterpiece, the editor's object will 
have been gained. 

H. B. S. 

Brooklyn, May 15, 1876. 



JOHN MILTON. 

1608—1674. 

"Thy soul was like a star, and dwelt apart ; " 

Thou liadit a voice whose sound was like the sea, 
Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free. 
So didst thou travel on life's common way 
In cheerful godliness ; and yet thy heart 
The lowliest duties on herself did lay." 

— Wordsicorth. 

John Mxlton, who has been styled "the greatest of great men," was 
born in London in 1608, and died therie in 1(j74. His father Avas a business 
man in comfortable circumstances, and took great pains with the education 
of his son, first employing private tutors, then sending him to St. Paid's 
School, and afterward placing him as a student in Cambridge University. 
Tlie young man, having distinguished himself by his scholarship and talents 
in all these positions, was graduated Master of Arts, in 1632. .For the next 
six years he continued to pursue his studies with extraordinary diligence; 
occasionally, however, spending a sliort time in tlie composition of a poem, 
such as Comus, Lycidas, D Allegro, U Penseroso. 

Upon his mother's death, in 1638, he left England and traveled on the 
Continent, spending most of his time in Italy for fifteen months, making the 
acquaintance and enjoying the friendship of some of the most distinguished 
men of that day. In 1639, he returned to England to take part in the great 
struggle, then coming to a crisis, between the King and Parliament. Milton 
sided with the latter, and wrote several powerful controversial works in 
favor of religious and political reforms. He also opened a boys' school, and 
gave much time to the subject of education, on which he wrote a very able 
treatise, in 1644. In the same year, he wrote his great work on the freedom 
of the press. 

In 1643, he married Mary Powell, after a very brief acquaintance with 
her. But their dispositions proved uncongenial. The young wife was fond 
of gay society, and was glad to return to her father's house, wliere she 
remained about two years. Milton was deeply pained at this desertion, and 
after much reflection upon the subject, he determined to repudiate her, and 



JOHX MILTOISr. 7 

wrote four treatises on divorce. They were reconciled, however, npou her 
vohintary return to him, in 1645. She died some years later, and he was 
twice married afterward, liis third wife surviving him over fifty years. 

On the execution of King Charles I., in 1649, Milton was appointed 
Secretary of State, the duties of which position he continued to discharge 
for several years. Several powerful arguments from his pen followed against 
the King and against Monarchy, and in favor of popular rights and in 
defense of the people of England. It was in writing one of these books that 
he lost his eyesight, his jihysicians having distinctly warned him that blind- 
ness would be the inevitable consequence of the literary labor. '■'■ I did not 
long 'balance^'''' said Milton, " ichether my duty should he preferred to my eyes.''^ 

Charles II. became King of England, in 1060, and Milton was in great 
danger of punishment for having dared to speak so boldly against Charles I. 
and despotism. After a time, however, the Act of Amnesty was passed. 

Milton's later years were mainly spent in the comijosition of his great epic 
poems. Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, as well as his tragedy of 
Sam^yson Agonistes, and certain controversial religious and educational 
works. 

Dr. Symmons admirably expresses the views of many of the most 
thoughtful minds, when he pronounces John Milton, "A man in whom Avere 
illustriously combined all the qualities that could adorn or elevate the 
nature to which he belonged ; a man who at once possessed beauty .of 
countenance, symmetry of form, elegance of manners, benevolence of 
temper, magnanimity and loftiness of soul, the brightest illumination of 
intellect, knowledge the most various and extended, virtue that never loit- 
ered in her career nor deviated in her course; a man, who, if he hadleen 
delegated as the representative of his species to one of the superior worlds, would 
have suggested a grand idea of the Imman race, as of heings affluent in moral and 
intellectual treasure, raised and distinguished in the universe as the favorites and 
heirs of heaven ! " 



COMUS. 



ORIGIN OF THE STORY. 

"It seems that an accidental event, which occurred to the family of 
Milton's patron, John Egerton, Earl of Bridgewater, then keeping his 
court at Ludlow Castle, as Lord President of Wales, gave birth to this 
fable. The Earl's two sons and daughter. Lady Alice, were benighted, 
and lost their way in Haywood Forest ; and the two brothers, in the 
attempt to exjilore their path, left the sister alone in a track of country 
rudely inhabited by sets of boors and savage peasants. On these simple 
facts the poet raised such a superstructure of fairy spells and poetical 
delight, as has never been equalled. 

' ' Masks were then in fashion with the court and great nobility ; and when 
the lord president entered upon the state of his new office, this entertain- 
ment was properly deemed a splendid mode of recommending himself to 
the country, in the opening of his high function. Milton was the poet on 
whom Lord Bridgewater would naturally call, the bard having already 
produced the "Arcades" for the countess's mother. Lady Derby, at Hare- 
field, in Middlesex." — Sir Egerton Brydges. 

"CoMUS, well worked out, with a complete originality and extraordinaiy 
elevation of style, is perhaps Milton's masterpiece, and is simply the eulogy 
of virtue." — Taine. 

"The loftiest poem in praise of female i:)urity in any language." — 
Emerson. 



COMUS: A MASK. 



THE PERSONS. 



TheATTENDANTSpiRiT, afterwards in the habit I TheLadt, personated by Lady Alice Egerton. 

of Thtksis, personated by Henry Lawes. First Biiothbr, " Lord Brackley. 

CoJius, with his crew. | Second Brother, " Mr. Thos. Egerton. 

Sabuina, the Nymph. 



The first Scene discovers a wild wood. The attendant Spirit descends or enters. 

Before the starry tliresliolcT of Jove's court 
My mansion is; where those immortal shapes 
Of bright aerial spirits live insphered t 
In regions mild of calm and serene air, 



* The Mask or Masque, was a dramatic performance which, on account of the allegori- 
cal persons introduced, required the actors to be masked. Taine says : "Ben Jonson was the 
great, the inexhaustible inventor of Masques, a kind of masquerades, ballets, poetic dances, in 
which all the magnificence and imagination of the English Renaissance are displayed. The Greek 
gods and all the ancient Olympus ; the mythic personages whom the artists of the time delin- 
eate in their pictures ; the antique heroes of popular legends; all worlds, the actual the abstract, 
the divine the human, the ancient the modern, are searchedby his hand, brought on the stage 
to furnish costumes, harmonious groups, emblems, songs, whatever can excite, intoxicate, the 
artistic sense." 

t Insphered, in the sphere whither departed spirits pass from earth. 



Write out concisely the respective meanings of the following pynonymes, illustrating each 
by an appropriate sentence: Calm, serer^e. j)lacid, tranqnU. stilly quiet . 'uriduti!rbed,imrvffled, 
peaceful, composed, halcyon. (The iinaliridged dictionaries will be found useful in this exercise. 
See also Crai)b's Synonymes, Roget's Themums, Graliam's English Synonynus, etc.> 

N. B. The pages are numbered to coincide with the pages in Spragiie's Masterpieces in 
English Literatur<> to which volume reference is occasionally made in the foot-notes. 



252 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

Above the smoke and stir of this dim spot 

'W'liich men call earth ; and, with low-thoughted care, 

Confined and pestered* in this pinfold here, 

Strive to keep up a frail and feverish being, ' 

I Unmindful of the crown that virtue gives, 
10. After this mortal change, to her true servants, 

Amongst the enthroned gods on sainted seats. 

Yet some there be that, by due steps, aspire 

To lay their just hands on that golden key, 

That opes the palace of eternity. 

To such my errand is ; and, but for such, 

I would not soil these pure ambrosial weeds 

With the rank vapors of this sin-worn mold. 
But to my task. Neptune, besides the sway 

Of every salt flood and each ebbing stream, 
20. Took in by lot, 'twixt high and nether Jove, 

Imperial rule of all the sea-girt isles. 

That, like to rich and various gems, inlay 

The unadorned bosom of the deep ; 

Which he, to grace his tributary gods. 

By course commits to several government. 

And gives them leave to wear their sapphire crowns, 

And wield their little tridents. But this isle. 

The greatest and the best of all the main, 

He quarters to his blue-haired deities; 
30. And all this tract that fi'onts the falling sun, 

A noble peer, of mickle trust and power, 

Has in his charge, with tempered awe to guide 

An old and haughty nation, proud in arms : 

Where his fair offspring, nursed in princely lore, 

Are coming to attend their father's state 

And new-intrusted sceptre. But their way 

Lies through the perplexed paths of this drear wood, 

The nodding horror of whose shady brows 

Threats the forlorn and wandering passenger ; 
40. And here their tender age might suffer peril. 

But that, by quick command from sovereign Jove, 

I was dispatched for their defence and guard : 

And listen why ; for I will tell you now 

What never yet was heard in tale or song, 

* Pestered, croivded. enemnbered.—'Pva{o\6. {pev, incloisure ; fold, a sheep-pen) a pound. 
—Golden key, virtue —High and nether Jove. High Jove \» Jupiter ; netlier Jove is Plu- 
'to.— "By covivse^ b>i mtthoiliccd jirocedure. —Ti-i6.ents, lln-ee-prongi'd scejitres. (Tres, three, 
dentef:, teeth.)— Isle, Enuhmd, Scothmd, and \V:Ues.— Quarters, «WoA<.— Blue-haired, blue 
because the i.cean is blue.— Mickle (obs., except in Scoteli). mwh. great. Akin to Lat. magnwi, 
Gr. fteya?, Ews. mwh. See GrinimV Law, pp. 2:5, 197.— Nation, the Welsh.— Father's. This 
lather, the peer of micUle trust and mislil, is the Earl ol' Bridgewater, the soveruor of the 
Welsh.— State, iimugurulion, or entry with pomp upon the duties of his high office. 



JOHN MILTON. 253 

From old or modern bard, in hull* or bower. 
Bacchus, that first from out the purple grape 

Crushed the sweet poison of misused wine, 

After the Tuscan mariners transformed, 

Coasting the Tyrrhene shore, as the winds listed, 
50. On Circe's island fell. (Who knows not Circe, 

The daughter of the Sun, whose charmed cup 

Whoever tasted, lost his upright shape. 

And downward fell into a grovelling swine ?) 

This nympli, that gazed upon his clustering locks 

With ivy berries wreathed, and his blithe youth. 

Had by him, ere he parted thence, a son 

Much like his father, but his mother more. 

Whom, therefore, she brought up, and Comus named : 

Who, ripe and frolic of his full-grown age, 
60. Roving the Celtic and Il:)eriau fields. 

At last betakes him to this ominous wood, 

And, in thick shelter of black shades imbowered. 

Excels his mother at her mighty art, 

Offering, to every weary traveller, 

His orient liquor in a crystal glass. 

To quench the drought of Phoebus ; which as they taste, 

(For most (\o taste, through fond intemperate thirst,) 

Soon as the potion works, their human countenance, 

The express resemblance of the gods, is changed 
70. Into some brutish form, of wolf, or bear. 

Or ounce, or tiger, hog, or bearded geat. 

All other parts remaining as they were ; 

And they, so perfect is their misery, 

Not once perceive their foul disfigurement. 

But boast themselves more comely than before, 

And all their friends and native home forget, 

To roll with pleasure in a sensual sty. 

Therefore, when any, favored of high Jove, 

Chances to pass through this adventurous glade, 

* In hall. "The alUi^^ion is to the nneiftiit mode of entertnininf; a splendid, assembly, 
by siiiLiiiiLC or i-ecitiiiir tales." T. TT'rt;'''o/).— Bacchus, ihogodof wine and revelry. See p. 77, 
—Tuscan mariners transformed. A Latinism (jwH navtus Tyrrkt-nos nmtatos), after the 
transformation of the Tuscan niaiiners, tlie Tyi'rhene pirates, who are npreseiiled as having 
been transformed into dolphins by Bacchns.— Tyrrhene, the same as Tnscan.— Circe persoiu- 
fies the brutalizing power of tlie inloxicaling clip. >?he occupies a large space in ancient 
myths and leirends. — Ivy was a favorite plant with Bacchiuf. In V AUdgro \\<i have ivy- 
crowned Bacchus. — Blithe (A. S. blidhe, i;ay. merry), joyous, sprightly.— Comus (Or. kw/uo?, 
a revel, fr. koiixyj, a village, whence comedy?), in the 'latter age of Rome a :rod of le-<tive mirth 
and joy. Bnt Milloii has forever stamped his character as that of a reveller and vile enchanter. 
—Celtic and Iberian, Fvivh and Spanish.— Orient (Lat. orient, the rising of the sun, 
the east), radiant, briL'lit. — Phoebus (Or. 'bau), to shine ; /'hmdi/s, the sliininir one, the sun-god, 
Apollo), the *■'«;.— Droiight (A. S. drwjad/i, from dnjge, Eng. d?-i/). anditi/. drynesx.— Is 
chang'ed. In the tenth book of Homer's Odyssey, the eompanions of Ulysses are changed by 
Circe to swine by a stroice of her wand, after they liave drunk of her wine.— Ounce (Lat. uncia 
felis), an animal resembling the leopard. 

Liquor, liq»id, Juice, humor, Jiuld. Explain, etc. 



254 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

80. Swift as the sparkle * of a glancing star 

I slioot from heaven, to give him safe convoy ; 

As now I do. But first I must put off 

These my sky-robes, spun out of Iris' woof, 

And take the weeds and likeness of a swain 

That to the service of this house belongs. 

Who, with his soft pipe, and smooth-dittied song, 

Well knows to still the wild winds when they roar, 

And hush the weaving woods ; nor of less faith. 

And in this office of his mountain watch, 
90. Likeliest, and nearest to the 2:)resent aid 

Of this occasion. But I hear the tread 

Of hateful steps : I must be viewless now. 

Cojius enters with a cliarming-rod in one hand, his glass in the other ; with 
him a rout of monsters, headed like sundry sorts of wild leasts, iut othertoise 
like men and icomen, their apparel glistering. They come in, making a riotous 
and unruly noise, ioith torches in their hands. 

Comus. The star that bids the shepherd fold, 
Now the top of heaven doth hold ; 
And the gilded car of day 
His glowing axle doth allay 
In the steep Atlantic stream ; 
And the slope sun his upward beam 
Slioots against the dusky pole, 
100. Pacing toward the other goal 
Of his chamber in the east. 
Meanwhile, welcome joy and feast, 
Midnight shout and revelry, 
TijDsy dance and jollity. 
Braid your locks with rosy twine. 
Dropping odors, dropping wine. 
Rigor now is gone to bed ; 

* Sparkle. A beautiful simile.— Iris, tlie jroddess of tlie rainbow.— Woof (A. S. 
wefan, to weave), the threads across the warp; cloth. So, in tlie Hymn on the Nativity, 
Mil^ton represents Truth, Justice, and Mercy, as wearing rainbow colors. — Swain (A. S. 
swan), a young rustic. The name of the person who acted the part of the Attendant 
Spirit and of the swain Thyrsis, has come down to us. It was Thomas Lawes, a musician and 
poet, immortalized in Miltun's Eighth Sonnet. — Less faith (than slciil in magical music). — 
Top of heaven, the et/ii/A.— Glow^ing- axle. In Hymn on the JVatiritT/, we have '• burning 
axle-tree."— Allay, etc., abate the intense heat of the sun-god's chariot-axle, coo! the "burning 
axle-tree." — Atlantic stream. Around the earth, which was supposed to be flat and circular, 
the ocean-stream was said to flow. On the western coast of Europe it flowed from south to 
north; then, passing east along the Arctic lands, it afterwards flowed souih along the eastern 
coast of Asia. Those who lived in the far west were said to sometimes hear the hiss of the " 
burning wheels, as they dipped at sunset in the ocean-stream. Some would have it that a 
winged boat conveyed the sun-god from the svestern horizon round l)y the northern part of 
the earth, and back ito his place of rising. — Steep, sloping at a great angle with the plane of the 
horizon ; hence, vtry Sivift. — Slope sun, suu travelling on an inclined plane, or in an oblique 
direction. 



Sparkle, flash, gleam, glitter, glow, scintillation, glumner, glisten, glare. Distinguish, etc. 
Odors, smell, scent, perfume, fragrance. Ditt'ereutiate, etc. 



JOHN MILTON- 255 

And Advice, Tvitli scrupulous head, 

Strict Age, and sour Severity, 
110. Witli their grave saws,* in slumber lie. 

We, that are of purer fire, 

Imitate the starry quire. 

Who, in their nightly (svatchful spheres. 

Lead in swift round the months and years. 

The sounds and seas, with all their finny drove, 

Now to the moon in wavering moi'rice move; 

And, on the tawny sands and shelves. 

Trip the pert fairies and the dapper elves. 

By d-iin^oled brook and fountain-brim, 
120. The wood-nymphs, decked with daisies trim, 

Their merry wakes and pastimes keep: 

What hath night to do with sleep ? 

Night hath better sweets to prove : 

Venus now wakes, and wakens Love. ' 

Come, let us our rites begin : 

'Tis only daylight that makes sin ; 

Which these dun shades will ne'er report. 

Hail, goddess of nocturnal sport, 

Dark-veiled Cotytto ! to wliom the secret flame 
130. Of midnight torches burns ; mysterious dame. 

That ne'er art called but when the dragon womb 

Of Stygian darkness spits her thickest gloom. 

And makes one blot of all the air ; 

Stay thy cloudy ebon chair. 

Wherein thou ridest with Hecate, and befriend 

Us, thy vowed priests, till utmost end 

Of all thy dues be done, and none left out ; 

Ere the blabbing eastern scout. 

The nice Morn, on the Indian steep, 
140. From her cabined loop-hole peejj. 

And to the tell-tale sun descry. 

Our concealed solemnity. 

* Saws. SaylngK, maxims. So Sliakesix'are in As Yon Like It, "full of wis^e saivs."— 
Purer fire. The deities were iinpposcd to liave bodies made of a fiery essence, an " empyrea! 
substance." See Paradise Lost, i.. 117, ii., 215. Morrice (Sp. morisco. Fr. moresque, froi.i 
Mow, a Moor), nwrris. a Moorish dance, first brought into En<;land on the return of John ol 
Gaunt from Spain in the time of Chaucer.— Dapper (Ger. /(y^/Vr, valiant), little and active; 
spruce, smart.— Wakes, vigils; night-revels: sitting up late for solemn or festive purposes. 
A. S. ivacan ; Gor. wachen, to wake; Lat. rigilare, to watch. See Grimm's Law, p. 240.— 'Tis 
only daylig-h.t that makes sin. "A sentiment worthy of Comus."— Cotytto, the goddess 
of licentiousness, worshipped with rites of the grossest indecency in private at Athens. — 
Stygian, "of, or pertaining to, Styx, fabled by the ancients to be a river of hell; hence, hellish." 
ir«tete/'.— Makes one blot. So Shakesi)eare's '■'■making the. green one red" in Macbeth, ii., 
1, p. 1.31. — Hecate. As Diana personifies the moonlight splendor, so Hecate represents night's 
darkness and terrors. See Cijnlhia, pp. 79, 246. and PhccMe, p. 74. — Blabbing, talkative, tale- 
tellinrf. Shakespeare (TIenry'vi., Part 2, Act iv.. Scene 1, first line) speaks of "■ the gaudy, 
blabbing, and remorseful Any.'"— Nice, fastidiniis.—'L,oo-p-hole. The scout, on the top of one 
of the steep mountains of India, looks from I he loophole of a fortification which i8 no larger 
than a cabin or tent. But see cabined, p. 145. 



256 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

Come, knit hands, and beat the ground 
In a light fantastic round. 

The Measure. 

Break off, break off! I feel the different pace 

Of some chaste footing near about this ground. 

Run to your shrouds * within tliese brakes and trees : 

Our number may affright ! — Some virgin sure, 

(For so I can distinguish by mine art,) 
150. Benighted in these woods. Now to my charms 

And to my wily trains. I shall, ere long. 

Be well stocked with as fair a herd as grazed 

About my motlier Circe. Thus I hurl 

My dazzling spells into the spongy air, 

Of power to cheat the eye with blear illusion, 

And give it false presentments, lest the place 

And my quaint habits breed astonishment, 

And put the damsel to suspicious flight ; 

Which must not be, for that's against my course. 
160. I, under fair pretence of friendly ends. 

And well-placed words of glozing courtesy, 

Baited with reasons not uuplausible. 

Wind me into the easy-hearted man. 

And hug him into snares. When once her eye 

Hath met the virtue of this magic dust, 

I shall appear some harmless villager. 

Whom thrift keeps up about his country gear. 

But here she comes. I fairly step aside, 

And hearken, if I may, her business here. 

The Lady enters. 

170. Lady. This way the noise Avas, if mine ear be true. 

My best guide now. Methought. it was the sound 

Of riot and ill-managed merriment ; 

Such as the jocund flute and gamesome pipe 

Stirs up among the loose unfettered hinds. 

When, for their teeming flocks, the granges full. 

In wanton dance they praise the bounteous Pan, 

And thank the gods amiss. I should be loath 

* Shrouds (A. S. ncrud, a sarment), covered places, reireaf s.—Tra,ins (Lat. traho. to draw), 
thiiig:s which draw, enticeineiits, arliJicei^.—'EalT a herd. Circe had about her not only swine, 
the victims of licr transforming power, l)iit lions, tigers, wolve.?, etc., tamed by her msifjic arts. 
— Spong-y (Gr. a-Koyi/ia., CTTTovvos; Lat. gponoia ; A. S. sjwnge), having the quality of imbibing 
like a sponge.— Gear, badness 7na/ters, afahs. See p. 31.— Fairly, softly, gently. (Obs. in 
this sense).— Hinds, peasants, Soo/v-;.— Granges, J"r. grange, a barn; Lat. granum, a grain ; 
(Eng. corn by Grimm's Law), bams, granaries. 

Fantastic, visionary, fanciful, chimerical, whimsical, wild, capricious, ideal, imaginary. 
Explain, etc. 



JOEN MILTOJSr. 257 

To meet tlie rudeness and swilled * insolence 

Of such late wassailers: yet, oh! where else 
180. Shall I inform my unacquainted feet 

In the l)lind mazes of this tangled wood ? 

My brothers, when they saw me wearied out 

With this long way, resolving here to lodge 

Under the spreading favor of these pines, 

Stepped, as they said, to the next thicket-side, 

To bring me berries, or such cooling fruit 

As the kind hospitable woods provide. 

They left me then, when the gray-hooded Even, 

Like a sad votarist in palmer's weed, 
190. Rose from tlie hindmost wheels of'Phcebus' wain. 

But where they are, and why they came not back, 

Is now the labor of my thoughts. 'Tis likeliest, 

They had engaged their wandering steps too far; 

And envious darkness, ere they could return. 

Had stole them from me. Else, O thievish Night, 

"Why shouldst thou, but for some felonious end, ' 

In thy dark lantern thus close up the stars 

That nature hung in heaven, and filled their lamps 

With everlasting oil, to give due light 
200. To the misled and lonely traveller ? 

This is the place, as well as I may guess, 

Whence even now the tumult of loud mirth 

Was rife, and perfect in my listening ear. 

Yet nought but single darkness do I find. 

What might this be ? A thousand fantasies 

Begin to throng into my memory, 

Of calling shapes, and beckoning shadows dire, 

And aery tongues, that syllable men's names 

On sands and shores and desert wildernesses. 
310. These thoughts may startle well, but not astound 

The virtuous mind that ever walks attended 

By a strong-siding champion, Conscience. 

O, welcome, pure-eyed Faith, white-handed Hope, • 

T-hou hovering angel, girt with golden wings ! 

* Swilled (A. S. sicilgan, to swallow) drunken. Sivilled insolenre. insolence caused by 
greedy drinkint; of alcoholic liquors. See Pai-adise Lost, i., 502.— Wassailers, those wlio 
drink wansail (A. S. wes-hml. be in liealth), rev^ilers. See note on xvass<t(l. Muchrlli, Act i., sc. 7, 
p. 135.— Votarist, votary, one devoted to worship.— Palmer, a nli^ious pil;;rim who had 
visited the Holy Land, and, in token thereof, used to carry a branch of palm. He was designedly 
a homeless vagrant. —Phoebus' wain {wain, from A. S. wden, wasron ; Lat. rehire, to carry. 
See Grimm's Law. pp. 23, 24(h, the suii-Lrod's car. See r/lojving axle. p. 254.— Engaged, in- 
volved, rendered liable. — Lainps. In Macbeth, in the bej^inning of Act ii., sc. 1, p. 12(5. the 
stars are called candles. So in liomeo and .Juliet, Act ni., sc. 5.— Perfect, perfectly distinct, 
complete. — Single, unmi.xed.- Aery tongues; In Romeo and Juliet (which Milton would 
seem to have just been readin"; when he wrote Comus), we tiiid the '■'■ aify tone/ues''^ of echo 
mentioned. Act ii., sc. 2.— Syllable, pronounce.— Hovering. -'This word is applied with 
peculiar propriety to the angel Hope, iu sigiit, on tlie wing." T. Wai'ton, 

17 



258 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITEBA TUBE. 

And thou unblemished form of Chastity! 
I see ye visibly, and now believe 
That He, the Supreme Good, to whom all things ill 
Are but as slavish officers of vengeance. 
Would send a glistering * guardian, if need were, 
220. To keeiD my life and honor unassailed. 
Was I deceived, or did a sable cloud 
Turn forth her silver lining on the night ? 
I did not err: there does a sable cloud 
Turn fortli her silver lining on the night, 
And casts a gleam over this tufted grove. 
I cannot halloo to my brothers, but 
Such noise as I can make to be heard farthest, 
I'll venture ; for my new enlivened spirits 
Prompt me ; and they, perhaps, are not far off. 

SONG. 

230. Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph, that liv'st unseen 

Within thy airy shell. 
By slow Meander's margent green. 
And in the violet-embroidered vale, 

Where the love-lorn nightingale 
Nightly to thee her sad song mourneth well ; 
Canst thou not tell me of a gentle pair 
That likest thy Narcissus are ? 

O, if thou have 
Hid them in some flowery cave, 
240. Tell me but where, 

Sweet queen of parley, daughter of the sjDlicre ! 
So mayest thou be translated to the skies, 
And give resounding grace to all heaven's h-armouies. 

Enter CoMUS. 
•^^ Comus. Can any mortal mixture of earth's mold 

* Glistering' (A. S. r/lisian, to shine From the^same root como (yhio. qleam, glare, 
c/lonj, glimmer, etc.), shining, spar!di>ig.~-G\xSirdist.n.. "Are they not all uiinisteriris spirits?" 
Paid. Sye the fine lines on the 'niini>iry of angels, qiiotefl in the bioirraphical sketch 
of Spenser.— Silver lining-. Even in the ni<rlit, the dark cloud often has a silver lininjj. 
— £cIlo, daughter of Air (Jupiter) and Eartii (Telliis). Sec; Class. Diet.— Airy shell. "Hurd 
and Warburton observe tliat tfhell means the horizon, the hollow circumference of tlie heavens." 
Cleveland. This explanation, which makes the horizon a iihell and a circumference, and that 
circumference tlie circumference of the heavens, and hollow besides, is. to sa.y 'he least, not 
very accurate. In ancient asrronomy the spheres were imagined to be concentric, transparent 
shells encompassing; tlic cartli. Within the nearest of these lives Echo. See crystal spheres, p. 247. 
—Meander (now tlie Meii'ier or Miitdtr), a river in the southwest of Asia Minor, flowing into 
the Grecian ArchipelaLro,— Marg-ent, margin. — Liove-lorn, "bereft of her loved one." — 
Liikest, most like in beauty. — Narcissus, beloved, of Echo, became enamored of his own 
ima<;e mirrored in a fountain : and he pined awav with loimiiig for it. until he was changed into 
the flower that bears his name.— Datig-liter of the sphere. '"Milton supposes her to owe 
her first existence to the reverberation ol the spliercs." ^ya7•bnr(on.So mayest. On condi- 
tion that thou shalt tell me, 1 wish that thou mayest be transferred to the skies, and echo the 
divine melody of heaven. 

Margent, margin, border, edge, rim, brim, brOtk, vei'ge. Distinguish, etc. 



JOHN MILTOIT. 259 

Breathe such divine enchanting ravishment ? 

Sure something holy* lodges in that breast, 

And with these raptures moves the vocal air 

To testify his hidden residence. 

How sweetly did they float upon the wings 
250. Of silence, through the empty-vaulted night, 

At every fall smootliing the raven-down 

Of darkness, till it smiled ! I have oft heard 

My mother Circe, with the Sirens three, 

Amidst the flowery-kirtled Naiades, 

Culling their potent herbs and baleful drugs, 

"Who, as they sung, would take the prisoned soul, 

And laj) it in Elysium : Scjdla wept. 

And chid her barking waves into attention. 

And fell Charybdis murmured soft applause : 
360. Yet they in pleasing slumber lulled the sense, 

And in sweet madness robbed it of itself ; 

But such a sacred and home-felt delight, 

Such soljer certainty of waking bliss, 

I never heard till now. I'll speak to her, 

And she shall be my queen. Hail, foreign wonder! 

Whom certain these rough shades did never breed. 

Unless the goddess that in rural shrine 

Dwell'st here with Pan, or Sylvan, by blest song 

Forbidding every bleak unkindly fog 
270. To touch the prosperous growth of this tall wood. 

Lady. Nay, gentle shepherd, ill is lost that praise 

That is addressed to unattending ears : 

Not any boast of skill, but extreme shift 

How to regain my severed company, 

Compelled me to awake the courteous Echo 

To give me answer from her mossy couch. 

Comus. "What chance, good lady, hath bereft you thus ? 

Ladrj. Dim darkness and this leafy labyrinth. 

Comus. Could that divide you from near-ushering guides ? 

* Something holy. Hero Is a stiilcin;j; tribute to the power of iniisic. Even Comus is fasci- 
nated ami for the moiiu'ut ennol)lecl.— Fall, cadence — Sirens (Lat. Siren, Gr. Setpiji-), maidens, 
celebrated in fable, who occupied an island, near Caprera in the Mediterranean, on the shores 
of which they used lo sit and sin;? to mariners i)assing by. Their voices were so melodious that 
the listeners forsjot home and friends and were lured on to destrnctioii.— Flowery-kirtled. 
A klrtle is a gown.— Naiades (Naii?, from vieiv, to flow, Lat. naias, nais), N<na(U, interior 
deities iu the form of younsr and beautiful virgins, who presided over rivers, brooks, and foun- 
tains. VYOWowwced Na-yd-des. Ace. 1st svl.— Elysium (Lat. A7j/.«JMm) the abode of the spirits 
of the blessed. Homer locates it in the f:ir west of earth ; Virsril, under the earth ; Hesiod and 
Pindar, in the Isles of the Blessed, or Fortunate Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean.— Scyllaj 
once a beautiful maiden, changed by Circe into a monster having six heads and snrroiincieu 
by serpents and barking dogs.— Charybdis, a dangerous whirlpool. Charybdis and »c.vlla 
were fabled to be on opposite sides of the straits of Messina.— Sylvan (Lat. Sylvaiins or bil- 
vanus), a deity among the Romans. He had the careof fields, herds, woods, etc. (From sylva 
or silva, a forest.) _, 

Eavishment, rapture, ecHasy, transport, bliss, exultation. Distinguish, etc. 



260 MASTERPIECES m ENGLISH LITER A TURE. 

280. Lady. They left me, weary, ou a grassy turf. 

Comus. By falsehood, or discourtesy, or why ? 

Lady. To seek, i' the valley, some cool friendly spring. 

Comus. And left your fair side all unguarded, lady ? 

Lady. They were but twain, and purposed quick return. 

Comus. Perhaps forestalling night prevented them. 

Jjody. How easy my misfortune is to hit ! 

Comus. Imports there loss, beside the j^resent need ? 

Lady. No less than if I should my brotliers lose. 

Comus. Were they of manly prime, or youthful bloom ? 
290. Lady. As smooth as Hebe's,* their unrazored lips. 

Comus. Two such I saw, what time the labored ox 
In his loose traces from the furrow came, 
And the swinked hedger at his supper sat ; 
I saw them under a green mantling vine. 
That crawls along the side of yon small hill, 
Plucking rijie clusters from the tender shoots ; 
Their jiort was more than human, as they stood : 
I took it for a faery vision 
Of some gay creatures of the element, 
300. That in the colors of the rainbow live. 

And play i' the plighted clouds. I was awe-struck, 
And, as I passed, I worshipped ; if those you seek, 
It were a journey like the path to heaven. 
To help you find them. 

Lady. Gentle villager. 

What readiest way would bring me to that jilace ? 

Comus. Due west it rises from this shrubby point. 

Lady. To find out that, good shepheixl, I suppose, 
In such a scant allowance of star-light. 
Would overtask the best land-pilot's art, 
yiO. AVithout the sure guess of well-practised feet. 

Co?nus. I know each lane, and every alley green, 
Dingle, or bushy dell, of this wild wood. 
And every bosky bourn from side to side. 
My daily walks and ancient neighborhood ; 
And if your stray attendants be yet lodged, 
Or shroud within these limits, I shall know 
Ere morrow wake, of the loAv-roosted lark 

* Hebe, daiiglitei- of Juno and codde^i? of youth. She was ciip-bearer to the gods. — 
Swinked, over-laf)ored, tired.— Hedger, one who \v(n-ks at making or repairing hedges. — 
Port (A. S. port ; Lat. p07'tus), can-iar/e. bearing. Faery (Lat. fata), fair}-.— Vision (ti-isyl., 
like vnion. p. -^-Ki, and session, p. 248).— Element, the air. atmosphere.— VXighXedi. " We are to 
understand tlie braided or embroidered c^llul^, in which certain airy elfniental lieings are inoift 
poetically pnppofied to sport, thus producing a variety of transient and dazzling colors." T. 
Tfrt/'/ow.— Without the sure guess. Unle.-s he had the sure g n ess.— Hin.gle, a small, secluded , 
and embowered valley.— Dell, a ravine.— 'Bosls.y, woody, or 6!/>Ay. —Bourn, a rivulet, a brook. 
(Hence the meaning of a bound, ov limit, a stream being a natural boundary.)— Shroud, take 
shelter. See ehrouds, p. 256. 



JOHN MIL TON. 26 1 

From her thatched pallet* rouse ; if otherwise, 

I can conduct you, lady, to a low 
330. But loyal cottage, where you may be safe 

Till further quest. 

Lady. Shepherd, I take thy word. 

And trust thy honest-offarcd courtesy, 

Which oft is sooner found in lowly sheds. 

With smoky rafters, than in tapestry halls, 

And courts of princes, wiiere it first was named, 

And yet is most pretended : in a place 

Less warranted than this, or less secure, 

I cannot be, that I should fear to change it. 

Eye me, blessed Providence, and square my trial 
330. To my proportioned strength. Shejiherd, lead on. [Exeiint. 

Enter the Two Brotheks. 

First Br. Unmuffle, ye faint stars ; and thou, fair moon, 
That wont'st to love the traveller's benison. 
Stoop thy pale visage through an amber cloud, 
And disinherit Chaos, that reigns here 
In double night of darkness and of shades : 
Or, if your influence be quite dammed up 
With black usurping mists, some gentle taper, 
Though a rush-candle, from the wicker hole 
Of some clay habitation, visit us 
340. With thy long-levelled rule of streaming light. 
And thou shalt be our star of Arcady, 
Or Tyrian cynosure. 

Sec. Br. Or, if our eyes 

Be barred that happiness, might we but hear 
The folded flocks penned in their wattled cotes, 
Or sound of pastoral reed with oaten stops, 

* Pallet (Lat. palea, chaff; Pr. pni/lfi, s^raw), a small poor bed.— Quest (Lat. qxccrere, to ;isk, 
seek), search. jwg«irv/.— Warranted, made secure, assured of safety, r/uaranfeed. (Guaranty and 
warranty are the same word.) G at the bediming of a word, especially when sounded like h, 
as iu German, easily disappears. Hence Fr. 9'?<err« becomes ivar ; cpiise, wise; ginle, wile, 
etc.— That I should fear, so as to make me /«rtr.— Square, adjust, accommodate. —'Wont'st 
(A. S. wunian. to dwell ; wuna, custom ; Ger. qeuvhnt, accustomed), art accusto?ned.— Benison, 
blessing, benediction.— Amber, yellowish and transhicent. Milton is fond of this word, or of the 
color designated.— Chaos, the unorganized condition of matter, wlien "the earth was wiUiout 
form and void " ; the oldest.of the Greek gods.— Rush-candle, a small taper made by dipping 
a rush in tallow.— Wicker liole, the window covered with osiers or willow twigs. —Long-- 
levelled. Whoever lias noted a beam of light streamin- tlinni^'h dusty or loggy air, especial y 
atuigiu, will recognize the beauty of this epithet.— Arcady. Jupiter changed Calisfo, daugli- 
terof Lycaon, King of Arcadia, into the eonstelhition Ursa Major, and changed her son Areas 
into Ursa Minor, called also C'ynosura (the Doir's tail). The Cynosnra. as' containing the polar 
star, has the eyes of all mariners directed to itself. The Tyriaiis (Phffinicians) were the most 
celebrated seamen of antiquity, and from them the smaller Bear was somctiincs allied I'tice- 
jm'«.— Wattled, formed of platted or interwoven twigs.— Cotes, sheep folds.— Reed, n music- 
al instrument made of tlie hollow joint of some plant.— Oaten stops, apertures closed by 
the finger iu a pipe of oat straw. 

Courtesy, politeness, rejinement. vrbanity, good-breeding, civility, complaisance, gentility, 
courtliness, elegance. Distinguish, etc. 

Conduct, escort, suite, guide, lead. Distinguish, etc. 



262 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

Or whistle from the lodge,* or village cock 

Count the night watches to his feathery dames, 

"'Twould be some solace yet, some little cheering, 

In this close dungeon of innumerous boughs. 
350. But, oh, that hapless virgin, our lost sister ! 

Where may she wander now, whither betake her 

From the chill dew, among rude burs and thistles ? 

Perhaps some cold bank is her bolster now, 

Or 'gainst the rugged bark of some broad elm 

Leans her unpillowed head, fraught with sad fear. 

What, if in wild amazement and affright, 

Or, while we speak, within the direful grasp 

Of savage hunger, or of savage heat ? 

First Br. Peace, brother be not over exquisite 
360. To cast the fashion of uncertain evils : 

For, grant they be so, while they rest unknown, 

What need a man forestall his date of grief. 

And run to meet what he would most avoid ? 

Or if they be but false alarms of fear. 

How bitter is such self-delusion ! 

I do not think my sister so to seek. 

Or so unprincijjled in virtue's book, 

And the sweet peace that goodness bosoms ever. 

As that the single want of light and noise 
370. (Not being in danger, as I trust she is not) 

Could stir the constant mood of her calm thoughts. 

And put them into misbecoming plight. 

Virtue could see to do what virtue would, 

By her own radiant light, though sun and moon 

Were in the flat sea sunk. And wisdom's self 

Oft seeks to sweet retired solitude. 

Where, with her best nurse, Contemplation, 

She plumes her feathers and lets grow her wings. 

That, in the various bustle of resort, 
380. Were all-to ruffled, and sometimes impaired. 

He that has light within his own clear breast 

May sit i' the centre, and enjoy bright day: 

But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts. 

Benighted walks under the mid-day sun ; 

Himself is his own dungeon. 

* Lodg-e, a smail house in a forest.— Innumerous, conntless. This word is now obso- 
lete.— Cast, cmnpute, jyredict, to reckon on the lii tine. —Delusion, four S3-llables.— So to 
seek, so iieediiiir to seek, so at a loss, ^o witliout resottrces.— Bosoms, incloses in the bosom, 
c/mishes.—See^s to (Lat. sequi, to follow), resoris to, courts. See Isaiah si., 10.— Contempla- 
tion. -Tion is here a tlissyllable.— All-to, altoqether. Webster prefers to join the to in such 
a phrase, to the following word. This would then read all to-ruffled. See Worcester's and 
Webster's Unabr. Diet, under all. 

Amazement, astonishment, stirjnnse, wonder. Discriminate, etc. 



JOE^ MILTON. 263 

Sec. Br. 'Tis most true, 

That musing meditation most affects 

The pensive secrecy of desert cell, 

Far from the cheerful haunt of men and herds, 

And sits as safe as in a senate-house ; 
390. For who would rob a hermit of his weeds, 

His few books, or his beads, or maple dish, 

Or do his gray hairs any violence ? 

But beauty, like the fair Hesperian* tree, 

Laden with blooming gold, had need the guard 

Of dragon-watch, with unenchanted eye. 

To save her blossoms, and defend her fruit, 

From the rash hand of bold incontinence. 

You may as well spread out the unsunned heaps 

Of miser's treasure by an outlaw's den, 
400. And tell me it is safe, as bid me hope 

Danger will wink on opportunity, 

And let a single helpless maiden pass 

"Uninjured in this wild surrounding waste. 

Of night, or loneliness, it recks me not ; 

I fear the dread events that dog them both, 

Lest some ill-greeting touch attempt the person 

Of our unowned sister. 

First Br. I do not, brother. 

Infer, as if I thought my sister's state 

Secure, without all doubt or controversy ; 
410. Yet, where an equal poise of hope and fear 

Does arbitrate the event, my nature is 

That I incline to hope, ratlier than fear. 

And gladly banish squint suspicion. 

My sister is not so defenceless left 

As you imagine; she has a hidden strength, 

Which you remember not. 

Sec. Br. What hidden strength. 

Unless the strength of Heaven, if you mean that ? 

First Br. I mean that, too, but yet a hidden strength, 

Which, if Heaven give it, maj'^ be termed her own ; 
420. 'Tis chastitj^, my brother; chastity: 

She that has that is clad in complete steel; 

* Hesperian. At the wedding of Jupiter and Jnno, the bride received, as a present from 
tlie ffcidde?:' of earth, a tree witli golden apples growiiiir on its brandies. Tliis tree was in- 
trusted to the keeping of the llespcrides, or '"Western Maidens," assisted by a luindred- 
headed dragon. See Class. Diet.— Unsunned, not e.rposfd to the .sv/«, carefully concealed. — 
Dog-, follow cto<(?/(/.— Unowned, utvl'dini-d, unattended.— Squint, lonkiiuj obliqudij. sus- 
piciously, or by side glances. — Complete steel. So in Handtt, the ghost is in " complete 
steel." Act i., sc. 4. 



Suspicion, doubt, mistrust, scruple, indecision, hesitation, distrust, jealousy, envy. Discrimi- 
nate, etc. 



264 MASTEBPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERA TUBE. 

' And, like a quivered nymph,* witli arrows keen, 

May trace liuge forests, and uuliarbored heaths, 

Infamous hills, and sandy perilous wilds, 

Where, through the sacred rays of chastity, 

No savage fierce, bandit, or mountaineer. 

Will dare to soil her virgin purity. 

Yea, there, where very desolation dwells, 

By grots and caverns shagged with horrid shades, 
430. Slie may pass on with unblenched majesty. 

Be it not done in pride, or in presumption. 

Some say, no evil thing that walks by night, 

In fog or fire, by lake or moorish fen. 

Blue meagre hag, or stubborn unlaid ghost 

That breaks his magic chains at curfew time, 

No goblin, or swart fairy of the mine, 

Hath hurtful power o'er true virginity. 

Do ye believe me yet, or shall I call 

Antiquity from the old schools of Greece, 
440. To testify the arms of chastity ? 

Hence had the huntress Dian her dread bow, 

Fair silver-shafted queen, for ever chaste, 

Wherewith she tamed the briuded lioness 

And spotted mountain-pard, but set at nought 

The frivolous bolt .of Cupid : gods and men 

Feared her stern frown, and she was queen of the w^oods. 

What was that snaky-headed Gorgon shield 

That wise Minerva wore, unconquercd virgin, 

Wherewith she freezed her foes to congealed stone, 
^50. But rigid looks of chaste austeritj^. 

And noble grace, that dashed brute violence 

With sudden adoration and blank awe ? 

* Quivered nymph.. He is thiuking of Diann, goddess of chastity, whose favorite 
occiipii-tioii it was to hunt with bow and Aill quiver. — Trace (Lat. tialiere, to draw), 
to track, walk over, pass through.— Unharbored, affording no 6'A«?fer.— Unblenched, 
not baffled, not blincled. {Blench from Uanch, to grow white. Fr. hlanc^ wliite.)— Unlaid, 
7Wt pacified, not caused to disappear. "An niilaid ghost," says T. Warlon, "wiis among 
the most vexatious plagues of the world of spirits. The metaphorical expression of breaking 
hif! magic chains for being snfterert to wander abroad is " beautiful." The seven lines beginning, 
"Some say, no evil thing," suL'gest a kindred seven lines beginning, "Some say that 
ever 'gainst that season comes," near the end of the first scene in Hainlet.—Curfevr (Fr. 
coinre-feu ; couvrir, to cover ;/«w, fire. By command of William the Conqueror, KiGii-lOS", a 
bell was rung at nightfall as a signal to the inliabitants to cover tires, extinguish liglits, and 
retire to rest). As to the habits of spirits tliat "walk the ni^ht," see the passage just cited 
in Hamlet. See also stanza 26 of Ode on the Morning of Chrisl\'< Nativitij.—'PBi.Ty. "In the 
Gothic system olpneumatology, mines were supposed to be inhabited by various sorts of spirits." 
T. ira?VoM.— Dian, Diana, goddess of the cliase. and always chaste. Pee Hecate, pp. liiB, 25.5. 
—Cupid's bolt, the arrow of Cupid, son of Venus, aiid god of love.— Gorgon. The 
Gorirons were three frighllul sisters who turned into st<me all who looked on them. The hero 
Perseus sle\v Medusa, one of tlie Gordons, and, cutting oft' her head, gave it to the goddess of 
wisdom. Minerva, who fastened it in the centre of her feais or shield. Paradise liOH, ii., 611. — 
Freezed (obsolete) froze. This passage, explaining the myth of the Gorgon's head :ind ascrib- 
ing tiie powiTof Diana and Minerva to their chastity, is original and beautiful. The delicacy 
and purity of the language well correspond witli the thought. See Class. Diet. 

Bandit, outlaw, bi'igand, robber, buccaneer, pirate, highwayman, thief, freebooter, pilferer. 
Distinguish, etc. 



JOHN MILTON. 265 

So dear to Heaven is saintly chastity, 
That, when a soul is found sincerely so, 
A thousand liveried angels lackey her, 
Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt ; 
And, in clear dream and solemn vision. 
Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear; 
Till oft converse with heavenly habitants 
460. Begin to cast a beam on the outward shape. 
The unpolluted temj)le of the mind. 
And turns it, by degrees, to the soul's essence,* 
Till all be made immortal. But when lust. 
By unchaste looks, loose gestures, and foul talk, 
But most by lewd and lavish act of sin. 
Lets in defilement to the inward parts, 
The soul grows clotted by contagion, 
Imbodies, and imbrutes, till she quite lose 
The divine property of her first being. 
470. Such are those thick and gloomy shadows damj). 
Oft seen in charnel vaults and sepulchres, 
Lingering and sitting by a new-made grave, 
As loth to leave the body that it loved, 
And linked itself, by carnal sensuality, , 

To a degenerate and degraded state. 

Sec. Br. How charming is divine philosophy ! 
Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose, 
But musical as is Apollo's lute, 
480. And a perpetual feast of nectared sweets. 
Where no crude surfeit reigns. 

First Br. List ! list ! I hear 

Some far-off halloo break the silent air. 

Sec. Br. Methought so, too ; what should it be ? 

First Br. For certain. 

Either some one, like us, night-foundered here, 
Or else some neighbor woodman; or, at worst. 
Some roving robber calling to his fellows. 

Sec. Br. Heaven keep my sister. Again, again, and near! 
Best draw, and stand upon our guard. 

First Br. I'll halloo: 

If he be friendly, he comes well ; if not. 
Defense is a good cause, and Heaven be for us. 

* Soul's essence, etc. This seems to have heen a favorite thought with Milton. See 
Paradm LoH, v., 4(58-505. See, too, the beiriiining of Milton's treatise on Refortnatlnn in Enr/- 
land.— l^oth. to leave. Note the alliteration. The thonght hero and thiou^'lmnt the whole 
of this ^^peech of the elder brother, well deserves the comjiliment the yonnL'cr brother 
immediati'ly pnys it.— Apollo, god of music, played upon the lyre invented by Mercury.— 
Nectared. Nectar was the driulv of the gods, as ambrosia was their food.— Nig-ht-foun- 
dered (founder, from L:\\.fi/ndiig, bottom ; Old French /o/!rfr«, to sink), foundered, or sunk, in 
night, or in darkness. Paradise Lost, i., 204.— Draw, i. e., draw the sword. 



266 MASTERPIECES IX EJS'QLISH LITERATURE. 

Enter the attendant Sjjirit, liahited like a Sheplierd. 
490. That halloo I should know ; what are you ? speak. 
Come not too near: you fall on iron stakes else. 

Spir. What voice is that ? my young lord ? speak again. 

Sec. Br. O brother, 'tis my father's shepherd, sure. 

First Br. Thyrsis ? * whose artful strains have oft delayed 
The huddling brook to hear his madrigal, 
And sweetened every musk-rose of the dale ? 
How earnest thou here, good swain ? Hath any ram 
Slipped from the fold, or young kid lost his dam ? 
Or straggling wether the pent flock forsook ? 
500, How couldst thou find this dark sequestered nook ? 

Spir. O, my loved master's heir, and his next joy, 
1 came not here on sucli a trivial toy 
As a strayed ewe, or to pursue the stealth 
Of pilfering wolf : not all the fleecy wealth 
That doth enrich these downs is worth a thought 
To this my errand, and the care it brought. 
But, oh, my virgin lady ! where is she ? 
How chance she is not in your company ? 

First Br. To tell tliee sadly, shepherd, without blame 
510. Or our neglect, we lost her as we came. 

Spir. Ah me vmhappy ! then my fears are true. 

First Br. What fears, good Thyrsis ? Pr'ythee, briefly show. 

Spir. I'll tell ye. 'Tis not vain or fabulous. 
Though so esteemed by shallow ignorance, 
What the sage poets, taught by the heavenly muse, 
Storied of old, in high immortal verse. 
Of dire chimeras, and enchanted isles, 
And rifted rocks whose entrance leads to hell; 
For such there be, but unbelief is blind. 
520. Within the navel of this hideous wood. 

Immured in cypress shades, a sorcerer dwells, 
Of Bacchus and of Circe born, great Comus, 
Deep skilled in all his mother's witcheries ; 
And here, to every thirsty wanderer, 
By sly enticement gives his baneful cup, 

* Thyrsis, the name of a herdsman in Theojcritus and of a shepherd in Virc^i], la 
used in the pastoral poets as a generic name for slu^pherd.— Artfal strains, cunning 
notes, skilful to// e«.— Huddling, crowdinir confusedly forw:ird— Madrigal (Lat. Mandra, a 
stall, a liei'd of cattle ; It. anil O. Span, maiulra, a flock), a in-ief pastoral pot- ni, usually a love- 
story or sonv. See p. 219. — Sweetened. How e,\qnisite the music that could add perfume to 
the rose !— Forsook ("hs. as \)An\(i\\)\v). forsaken— Dire chimeras. The cliimt7-a was a flre- 
vomitin<r monster, having the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon. Pai-a- 
dige Lofl. ir., 628.— Rifted, rent asunder, split. Near Tienaius (Cape ;Matapan) was a cave, 
which the poets fabled to be the entrance to heli, and through which Hercules was said to have 
dragged up the three-headed dog Cerberus.— Navel. So Delphi was called l>y the Greeks 
the'^uavel of earth.— Sorcerer (Lat. sors, a lot). 

Immoi'tal, deathless, imperishable, iiicorntptible. Other synouymes? 



JOHJS' MILTON. 267 

"With many murmurs* mixed, whose pleasing poison 

The visage quite transforms of him that drinks, 

And the inglorious likeness of a beast 

Fixes instead, unmolding reason's mintage 
530. Charactered in the face. This have I learned, 

Tending my flocks hard by i' the hilly crofts 

That brow tliis bottom-glade ; Avhence, night by uiglit, 

He and his monstrous rout are heard to liowl 

Like stabled wolves or tigers at their prey, 

Doing abhorred rites to Hecate, 

In their obscured haunts of inmost bowers. 

Yet have they many baits and guileful spells, 

To inveigle and invite the unwary sense 

Of them that pass unweeting by the way. 
540. This evening late, by then the chewing flocks 

Had ta'en their supper on the savory herb 

Of knot-grass dew-besprent, and were in fold, 

I sat me down to watch upon a bank 

With ivy canopied, and interwove 

With flaunting honeysuckle, and began, 

Rapt in a pleasing fit of melancholy, 

To meditate my rural minstrelsy. 

Till fancy had her fill: but, ere a close, 

The wonted roar was up amidst the woods, 
550. And filled the air with barbarous dissonance •, 

At which I ceased, and listened them awhile. 

Till an unusual stop of sudden silence ■ 

Gave respite to the drowsy-flighted steeds 

That draw the litter of close-curtained sleep. 

At last, a soft and solemn-breathing sound 

Rose like a steam of rich distilled perfumes 

And stole upon the air, that even Silence 

Was took ere she was ware, and wished she miglit 

* Murmurs, muttered ma<T;ic words or verses. In ])re[)aiiiig this enchanted eup, the 
charm of many barbarous, iininiellii^ible words was intermixed to qiiiclceii and !*tren>:then its 
operation.— Mintage (A. S. niynet, money, coin, Lat. moiieta, the adviser ; (rom ?/iniiere, to warn. 
Moneta was a t^urnanie of Juno, in whoso teniide money was coined), that wliich has been 
minted, or stamped at a mint. Reason's mintage is the form or h)ol<; as expressinu: reason.— 
Charactered. Here we have the old cus:omary accent on tlie second syllable. See note on 
serviceable, p. i51.— Crofts (Gr. KpvirT-q, h-.KpvTrTniv, to conceal; Lat. crypla ; A. S. crofi, by 
Grimm's Law), small inclosed fields.— Brow, form a brow to. oveHook.— Rout (Old French 
7ViUe, troop ; Lat. r»p/a, from ruinpere, to break), conconrse, ral>l'!e that commits a nreach of the 
peace.— Hecate (Trisyl.). See pp. 128. 150, -J.S.— Unweeting- ('/«, tiot; O. Eng. weet, to know), 
ignorant, unknorving. Obs.— By then, at the time when.— Knot-g-rass, a weed-like plant, 
knot-weed.— Besprent {sprent, A. S. sprenr/an. or f^prenean. to sjn-inkle), besprinkled.— Sat 
me down {i<at is reflexive here), seated myself.— Flaunting-, o-^tmtaliou^.—Reipt (Lat. raptus, 
enraptured, from rapere, to seize and carry off), traii^porti-d. ravished.— Meditate (Lat. 
meditari), practice.— Close, the end of a strain of music; cadence. See p. Mi.— Steeds, 
"night-steeds," as they are called in tlii^ Hymn on the NutivHy. So Campbell has the hue, 
"Chased on his night-steed by the star of day.'"- Took, taken prisoner, captivated. 



Tramform, metamorphose, alter, change, vary, diversify, shift, turn to or into, transmute. 
Distinguish, etc. 



26S 3IA8TERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

Deny her nature and be never more, 

560. Still to be so displaced. I was all ear, 

And took in strains that might create a soul 
Under the ribs* of death! But, oh, erelong, 
Too well I did perceive it was the voice 
Of my most honored lady, your dear sister. 
Amazed I stood, harrowed Avith grief and fear : ' 
And, O poor hapless nightingale! thought I, 
How sweet thou sing'st, how near the deadly snare! 
Tlien down the lawns I ran with headlong haste. 
Through paths and turnings often trod by day, 

570, Till, guided by mine ear, I found the place 

Where that damned wizard, hid in sly disguise, 
(For so by certain signs I knew,) had met 
Already, ere my best speed could prevent, 
The aidless innocent lady, his wished prey. 
Who gently asked if he had seen such two. 
Supposing him some neighbor villager. 
Longer I durst not stay, but soon I guessed 
Ye were the two she meant : with that I sprung 
Into swift flight, till I had found you here ; 

580. But further know I not. 

Sec. Br. O Night, and Shades ! 

How are ye joined with hoU in triple knot 
Against the unarmed weakness of one virgin, 
Alone and helpless ! Is this the confidence 
You gave me, brother ? 

First Br. Yes, and keep it still : 

Lean on it safely : not a period 
Shall be unsaid for me. Against the threats 
Of malice, or of sorcery, or that power 
Which erring men call chance, this I hold firm : 
Virtue may be assailed, but never hurt ; 

590. Surprised by unjust force, but not inthralled: 

Yea, even that, which mischief meant most harm. 

Shall in the happy trial prove most glory : 

But evil on itself shall back recoil. 

And mix no more with goodness; when, at last. 

Gathered like scum, and settled to itself, 

It shall be in eternal restless change 



* Ribs, etc. In Herman Hugo's Pia Desideria is an emblem representing a sonl in the lignra 
of an infant inside the ribs of a skeleton, with the motto, '■ O wretched man that I am. Who 
shall deliver me from the body of this death?" So Francis Quarles, Book v., for his eighth 
emblem, in like manner rejiresents a youth within the ribs of a human skeleton. See Rom. 
vii. 24. These speeches, thongh very fine, delay the action too much. Shakespeare would have 
hastened on to the denouement. 

Sic/nfi, mark, symptom, indication, note, token, signal. Distinguish, etc. 



JOHN MILTON. 269 

Self- fed * and self-consumed: if this fail, 

The pillared firmament is rottenness, 

And earth's base built on stubble. But come, let's on. 
600. Against the opposing will and arm of Heaven 

May never this just sword be lifted up ; 

But for that damned magician, let him be girt 

With all the grisly legions that troop 

Under the sooty flag of Acheron, 

Harpies and hydras, or all the monstrous forms 

'Twixt Africa and Ind, — I'll find him out, 

And force him to return his purchase back, 

Or drag him by the curls to a foul death, 

Cursed as his life. 

Sinr. Alas ! good venturous youth, 

610. I love thy courage yet, and bold emprise; 

But here thy sword can do thee little stead. 

Far other arms and other weapons must 

Be those that quell the might of hellish charms:' 

He with his bare wand can unthread thy joints, 

And crumble all thy sinews. 

Fimt Br. Why, pr'ythee, shej)herd, 

How dost thou then thyself approach so near, 

As to make this relation ? 

Spir. Care, and utmost shifts, 

How to secure the lady from surprisal, 

Brought to my mind a certain shepherd lad, 
620. Of small regard to see to, yet well-skilled 

In every virtuous plant and healing herb 

That spreads her verdant leaf to the morning ray. 

He loved me well, and oft would beg me sing, 

Which, when I did, he on the tender grass 

Would sit, and hearken even to ecstasy; 

And, in requital, ope his leathern scrip. 

And show me simples of a thousand, names, 

Telling their strange and vigorous faculties. 

* Self-fed, etc. Warburton says : "This image is wonderfully flue. It is taken from the 
conjectures of astronomers concerning the dnrk spots which, from time to time, appear on the 
surface of the sun's body, and, after a while, disappear again; which they suppose to be the scum 
of that liery matter which first breeds it, and then breaks through and consumes it."— Pil- 
lared. Homer represents Atlas as keeping "the tall pillars which hold heaven and earth 
asunder." This line has a Miltonic energy.— Leg-ions (trisyl.)— Aclieron, here as in Virgil, 
designates the lower world, hell.— Harpies (apirviai, from kpna^M, I snatch), monsters having 
the faces of women, and the bodies, wings, and claws of birds. They are personified storm- 
winds, or demons of the tempest. See Virgil's ^Eneici, in., 210, etc. — Hydras {vSpa, from iiSutp, 
water, Lat. hi/dra, a watorsnake). The Lernaian hydra, destroyed by Hercules, had a huge 
body with niiie heads, eight mortal and one immorial.— Ind, //if/ia.— Emprise, enterprising 
spirit; enterprise.— Stead, advantage. — Relation, statement.- Regard, aspect. — To see to, 
to look a^.— Scrip (Icel. skreppa), a wallet, suviU 6«f/.— Simples (semel, once; or sine, without; 
plica, fold), medicinal plants; each plant Ijcing supposed to possess its simple or particular 
virtue, and to be a simple reitiedy. 

Vigorous, energetic, forcible, powerful, lively. Other synonymos? 



270 MASTERPIECES IN EXGLISH LITER A TUBE. 

Amongst the rest, a small unsightly root, 
630. But of divine effect, he culled me out. 

The leaf was darkisli, and had prickles on it, 

But in another country, as he said. 

Bore a bright golden flower, but not in this soil : 

Unknown, and like esteemed,* and the dull swain 

Treads on it daily with his clouted shoon: 

And yet more medicinal is it than that moly, 

That Hermes once to wise Ulysses gave. 

He called it hsemony, and gave it me, 

And bade me keep it as of sovereign use 
640. 'Gainst all enchantments, mildew, blast, or damp, 

Or ghastly furies' apparition. 

I pursed it up, but little reckoning made, 

Till new that this extremity compelled : 

But now I find it true ; for by this means 

I knew the foul enchanter, though disguised, 

Entered the very lime-twigs of his spells. 

And yet came off. If you have this about you, 

(As I will give you when we go.) you may 

Boldly assault the necromancer's liall ; 
650. Where if he be, with dauntless hardihood. 

And brandished blade, rush on him; break his glass, 

And shed the luscious liquor on the ground. 

But seize his wand. Though he and his cursed crew 

Fierce sign of battle make, and menace high. 

Or, like the sons of Vulcan, vomit smoke, 

Yet will they soon retire, if he but shrink. 

First Br. Thyrsis, lead on apace, I'll follow thee ; 

And some good angel bear a shield before us. 

* Like esteemed, etc., not known and not esteemed.— Clouted, patche'1. See Josh, ix., 
5._Shoon, the oM nhiral form of slioe. The old phu-al endiiia:. cninmr>n in Semi-Sax., is still 
retained in oxen. In Shake.'peare and Byron we have sandal «Aoo//.— Moly, a I'abitlous herb, 
paid to have been given bv Mercury to Ulysses, as a connt<T-chnrm agains^t the spells of Circe. 
Homer iOdy-tsey x., 304. 305) says it was '• hlack in the root, and its flower was like unto inilk ; 
and the gods call it Molu. It is difficult for mortal men to dig it up; but the gods can do 
everything."— Hermes, Mermi7~y, the god of eloquence, and messenger of Jupiter. He wore a 
winged cap and wiu'^cd sandals.— Ulysses (Odysseus), the most cunning and the wisest of all 
the Greek chieftains at the siece of Troy. His wanderings after the capture of that city are re- 
lated in Homer's Of/y.««v.— Hsemony. Hcemonia was a poetical name of Thessaly. This coun- 
try was more famous" than .almost any other lor incantations, witchcraft, magic drugs, etc. See 
Odes of Horace. Book i., 27.— Apparition (five syllables).— Pursed, i)Ut in a purse or wallet. 
— Lime-twig-s, twii;s smeared with lime, which was a viscous substance for catching small 
birds.— Necromancer (i-e/tpd?, dead; ixavrei-a, divination), one who professes to foretell events 
by communiiatimi with departed soirits ; a conjurer.— Vulcan, god of tire, blacksmith and 
worker in metals generally, who had his forsres under iEtna. seems to have been a per.-oni- 
fication of volcanic (vulcanic) force. The sons of Vulcan are probably the Cyclopes, and these 
again bnt symbolize volcanic forces. See Class. Diet. —Apace, with quick pace ; rapidity. 
See apace, Index. 



Apparition, tiHon, phantom, spectre, ohosf. Distinguish, etc. 
Extremity, exigency, emergency, crids. Distinguish, etc. 



JOHN MIL TON. 271 

Tlie scene chanrjes to a stately palace, set out iriih all manner of deliciousness : 
soft music, talles spread witJi all daifities. Cojius appears with Ms raWle, and 
ihe Lady, set in an enchanted cliair, to ichom he offers his glass, which she puts 
hj, and goes alout to rise. 

Comus. Nay, lady, sit ; if I but wave tliis wand, 
660. Your nerves are all chained up in alabaster. 

And you a statue ; or, as Daphne* was, 

Root-bound, that fled Apollo. 

Lady. Fool, do not boast ; 

Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind 

With all thy charms, although this corporal rind 

Thou hast immanacled, while Heaven sees good. 

Comxis. Why are you vexed, lady ? Why do you frown ? 

Here dwell no frowns, nor anger; from these gates 

Sorrow flies far. See, here be all the pleasures 

That fancy can beget on youthful thoughts, 
670. When the fresh blood grows lively and returns 

Brisk as the April buds in primrose season. 

And first behold this cordial julep here. 

That flames and dances in his crystal bounds, 

Witli spirits of balm and fragrant syrups mixed. 

Not that Nepenthes, which the wife of Thone, 

In Egyjjt, gave to Jove-born Helena, 

Is of such poAver to stir up joy as this. 

To life so friendly, or so cool to thirst. 

Why should you be so cruel to yourself, 
680. And to those dainty limbs, which nature lent 

For gentle .usage and soft delicacy ? 

But you invert the covenants of her trust. 

And harshly deal, like an ill borrower. 

With that which you received on other terms ; 

Scorning the unexempt condition 

By which all mortal frailty must subsist, 

Refreshment after toil, ease after pain. 

That have been tired all day without repast. 

And timely rest have wanted. But, fair virgin, 
690. This will restore all soon. 

Lady. 'Twill not, false traitor ! 

'Twill not restore the truth and honesty 

* Daphne. Phoebus Apollo, love-«initteii, pursued the fair nymph Daphne, who, as he was 
on the point of overtakniG; her, was changed into a bay-tree. Ever alterwards this tn-e {lcut7'us) 
was a favorite with Apollo.— Immanacled (i". ;«/»« ; fmini/s, the hand), handcuffed, wr«»a- 
cled.—JvLlev> (Pers. fful, rose, ah, water).— Nepenthes d-r;-. not ; n-erSo?, grief), a drug usrd by 
the ancients to remove pain and produce exiiilaration. — Wife of Thone. Polydamnn, wife of 
Thone, gave to Helena, daughter of Jove and fairest of all women, nepenthes, among oilier 
" cunning and excellent drugs." See Odyssei/, iv., 219-233. 

Immanacled, manacled, chained, fettered, shackled, bound. Distinguish, etc. 



272 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

That thou hast banished from thy tongvie with lies. 

Was this the cottage and the safe abode 

Thou told'st me of ? What grim aspects * are these, 

These ugly-headed monsters ? Mercy guard me! 

Hence with thy brewed enchantments, foul deceiver! 

Hast thou betrayed my credulous innocence 

With visored falsehood and base forgery ? 

And wouldst thou seek again to trap me here 
700. With liquorish baits, fit to ensnare a brute ? 

Were it a draught for Juno when she banquets, 

I would not taste thy treasonous offer. None, 

But such as are good men, can give good things ; 

And that which is not good is not delicious 

To a well-governed and wise appetite. 

Comus. O foolishness of men ! that lend their ears 

To those budge doctors of the Stoic fur. 

And fetch their precepts from the Cynic tub, 

Praising the lean and sallow abstinence ! 
710. Wherefore did nature pour her bounties forth 

With such a full and unwithdrawing hand, 

Covering the earth with odors, fruits, and flocks. 

Thronging the seas with spawn innumerable. 

But all to please and sate the curious taste ? 

And set to work millions of spinning worms. 

That in their green shops weave the smootli-haired silk, 

To deck her sons ; and, that no corner might 

Be vacant of her plenty, in her own loius 

She hutched the all-worshipped ore and precious gems, 
720. To store her children witli. If all the world 

Should, in a pet of temperance, feed on j^ulse, 

Drink the clear stream, and nothing wear but frieze. 

The All-giver would be unthanked, would be uupraised, 

Not half his riches known, and yet despised ; 

* Aspects. As in Shakespeare, this word is accented on the lastsyllable in Milton. See 
note on serviceable, -p. 251.— Brewed. See the description of Ihi; "poisoned caldron" in 
Macbeth. — Visored, wenrin.' a visor (tlie part ol' a lielmet perforated, to see through), 
7nask(d.—'LiiciVLOYish. (A. S. Hccian, to lii-lc; Fr. lecher, to liclc; A. S. licccra, a glutton), tempt- 
in;; the appetite, dainty.— Wise appetite, an appetite controlled by wisdom.— Btidg'e (Irish 
bolc.bolg.balg,i\\)A^, sacij. Budge was lanil)-slcin fur, formerly mnch used as an ornamental edging 
of liie gown?' of scholars : hence). fc/tola<tic. ans/ere.— Stoic (<TT6a, a roofed colonnade, a porch in 
Athens, where Zenq ami his successors taught that men should be free from passion, unmoved 
by joy or grief), pettaining to the Stoics. See Stoics, p. 1)0.— Fur {lce\.fddr, lining. Strips 
of fur were used onganiients for lining or ornamunt). roV.— Cynic, pertaiiiing to ttie school of 
philo>ophers founded by Antisthenes (who flourished about 3"."), B. C'.). Of this school, Diogenes, 
who lived in a tub, was ttie most raniou< disciple. Antisthenes inculcated a riijid di^cipline, 
which he meant as a protest against luxury and effeminacy. See p. aoii.— Hutched (.\. S 
hwecca. a chest), laid up as in a chest, hoarded.- Pet (pout, to protrude the lips), a slight lit of 
peevishness.— Pulse, the fruit or seed of leguminous plants, as beans, peas, etc. —Frieze 
(Fr. frise; W.ffris), a woollen cloth from Frieshuid, coarsa, with a nap on one side. 



Innocence, guiltlessness, Jiarmle^sncis. Other synonymes? Differentiate, etc. 
Temperance, modesty, moderation., continence, sobriety. Distinguish, etc. 



JOHN MILTON. 273 

And we should serve Him as a grudging master, 

As a penurious niggard* of his wealth ; 

And live like Nature's bastards, not her sons ; 

Who would be quite surcharged with her own weight, 

And strangled with her waste fertility; 
730. The earth cumbered, and the winged air darked with plumes. 

The herds would over-multitude their lords, 

The sea, o'erfraught, would swell, and the unsought diamonds 

Would so imblaze the forehead of the deep, 

And so bestud with stars that they below 

Would grow inured to light, and come at last 

To gaze upon the sun with shameless brows. 

List, lady ; be not coy, and be not cozened 

With that same vaunted name, virginity. 

Beauty is Nature's coin, must not be hoarded, 
740. But must be current ; and the good thereof 

Consists in mutual and partaken bliss. 

Unsavory in the enjoyment of itself: 

If you let slip time, like a neglected rose, 

It withers on the stalk with languished head. 

Beauty is Nature's brag, and must be shown 

In courts, at feasts, and high solemnities, 

Where most may wonder at the workmanship. 

It is for homely features to keep home : 

They had their name thence. Coarse complexions 
750. Aud cheeks of sorry grain will serve to ply 

The sampler, and to tease the housewife's wool. 

What need a vermeil-tinctured lip for that, 

Love-darting eyes, or tresses like the morn ? 

There was another meaning in these gifts: 

Think what, and be advised : you are but young yet. 
Lady. I had not thought to have unlocked my lijis 

In this unhallowed air, but that this juggler 

Would think to charm my judgment, as mine eyes, 

Obtruding false rules pranked in reason's garb. 
760. I hate when vice can bolt her arguments, 

And virtue lias no tongue to check her pride. 

* Nig'g'ard (Ice. hnorjqr^ spavins ; Dan. qnier. a nigj^ard), a ?ni.ie>\ a sliiu/ij wretch.— 0-<Ter- 
raultitude, outmunbei-tlie muUitiideof.— Coy (Lat. gf/ies, rest, quietus, quiei), ^/(y.— Cozened 
(coitAn, to jireiend rebitionship ; or if may he from Gcr. kosen, Fr. causer, to tnllc. chat, wheedle), 
deceived. — Grain. (See note on " di/ed in. grain," in the 13th stanjca of Spenser's Epithahimiiim, 
p. 76), dye, color. — Ply, to work busily at. — Sampler, a pattern o'' work, a collceiion o\ 
needle-work patterns. — Tease (A. S. Ue^an. to pluck), cmnh or card. — Vermeil-tinctured 
(Lat. vermiculus, the little worm that furnishes the scarlet color), linired witli vermilion. --Like 
the morn. Al! the poets tell of the '• jrolden hair " of the snn, or that of Aurora, " floating? on 
the eastern clonds." — Pranked {Gar.^pranr/cn, prunken, to shine, make a show : Tcel. ivanga. 
Dan. prange, prunJce, allied io prink), ostentatiously dressed.— Bolt. Webster defines this word 
in this connection, *• to throw precipitately, blurt out, utter or throw out." (From A. S. bolt. 
Akiu to Gr. ^dAAeiv, to throw.) 



Niggard, miser. Other synonymes? Differentiate, etc. 

18 



274 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERA TURE. 

Impostor ! do not charge most innocent Nature, 

.As if she would her children should be riotous 

With her abundance. She, good cateress, 

Means her provision only to the good, 

Tliat live according to her sober laws. 

And holy dictate of spare temperance. 

If every* just man, that now pines with want. 

Had but a moderate and beseeming share 
770. Of that which lewdly-pampered luxury 

Now heajDS upon some few with vast excess, 

Nature's full blessings would be well dispensed 

In unsuperfluous even proj)ortion, 

And she no whit encumbered with her store : 

And then the Giver would be better thanked. 

His praise due paid ; for swinish gluttony 

Ne'er looks to heaven amidst his gorgeous feast. 

But, with besotted base ingratitude, 

Crams, and blasphemes his Feeder. Shall I go on ? 
780. Or have I said enough ? To him that dares 

Arm his profane tongue with contemptuous words 

Against the sun-clad power of chastity, 

Fain would I something say; — yet to what end ? 

Thou hast nor ear, nor soul, to apprehend 

The sublime notion, and high mystery, 

That must be uttered to unfold the sage 

And serious doctrine of virginity ; 

And thou art worthy that thou shouldst not know 

J(Iore happiness than this thy present lot. 
790. Enjoy your dear wit, and gay Rhetoric, 

That hath so well beeia taught her dazzling fence : 

Thou art not fit to hear thyself convinced. 

Yet, should I try, the uncontrolled worth 

Of this pure cause would kindle my rapt spirits 

To such a flame of sacred vehemence 

That dumb things would be moved to sympathize, 

And the brute earth would lend her nerves, and shake, 

Till all thy magic structures, reared so high, 

"Were shattered into heaps o'er thy false head. 
Gomus. She fables not ; I feel that. I do fear 

* If every, etc. She answers speciflciilly the argument of Coraus. See the speech of 
Comus just pre^.eling-. — liewdly-pampered (luid is from A. S. ICRwd. laical ; fr. Gr. Aads, 
the people), ^vnntoiily pampered. Pampered (LM. pampintts, a vine-leaf. Old Fr. pa//iprer, to 
cover with vine-leaves, to nurse into luxuriant prowili. Akin to O. Ger. pampen. to cram). — 
Dazzling fence, dazzliuLj sword-pli}-, as it were, of aruument or repartee. — I feel that she 
fables not. Synipson siig^'ested this punctuatiou instead of, Ife.elihal I do fear, etc. 

Dictate, command, injunction, order, direction, admonition, sufigeHion. Discriminate, etc. 
Pines, flags, droops, la/iguishes, dwindles, wiUiers, decays. Give tlie peculiar meanings, etc. 



JOHN MILTON. 2 To 

Her words set off by some superior power ; 
And though not* mortal, yet a cold shuddering dew 
Di^DS me all o'er, as when the wrath of Jove 
Speaks thunder and the chains of Erebus 
To some of Saturn's crew. I must dissemolc, 
And try her yet more strongly. Come, no more. 
This is mere moral babble, and direct 
Against the canon-laws of our foundation : 
I must not suffer this : 'tis but the lees 
310, And settlings of a melancholy blood ; 

But this will cure all straight. One sip of this 

Will bathe the drooping spirits in delight 

Beyond the bliss of dreams. Be wise, and taste. -' 

The Brothers rush in tcith swords drawn, lorest his glass out of his hand, 
and hrealc it against the ground : his rout make sign of resistance, iut are all 
driven in. The Attendant Spirit comes in. 

Spir. What, have you let the false enchanter 'scape ? 

Oh. ye mistook : you should have snatched his wand, 

And bound him fast. Without his rod reversed. 

And backward mutters of dissevering powex*, 

We cannot free the lady that sits here 

In stony fetters fixed and motionless. 
830. Yet stay, be not disturbed : now I bethink me, 

Some other means I have, which may be vised, 

Which once of Meliboeus old I learnt. 

The soothest shepherd that e'er piped on plains. 

There is a gentle nymph, not far from hence. 

That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn stream : 

Sabrina is her name, a virgin j^ure. 

Whilom she was the daughter of Locrine, 

* Though, not, thouiih I am not. T. Wartou says : " Here is the noblest panegyric on 
the power oT virtiic, adorned with the siililimesl imagery. It is extorted from the month of a 
magician and a preternatural being, who. although actually possessed of his prey, feels all tho 
terrors of human nature at the bohl rebuke of innocence, and shudders with a sudden cold 
sweat, like a guilty man," — Chains, tlie object of speakri in the sense of threatens. — 
Erebus (see Mercliant of Venice, .\ct v.. Scene I, and Class. Diet.), a dark region in the lower 
world ; hell. — Crew {Term, Earth, bore to Cculus or Uranus, Heiven. the Titans, six males and 
six females, Saturn being the youngest male), the Titans, or the Giants. — Canon-laws, the 
church laws of Rome ; established moral laws. (Lat, canon, a measuring line ; Gr. xavajv). — 
Lees, ilregs. Ilurd says, '• I like the manuscript reading best-: • This is mere moral stuff, 
the very lees,'' '' eic— Blood. The quality of the blood was supposed to determine the dis- 
position,— Backward mutters, the words of the charm pronounced in the reverse 
order.— Bethink me, make myself think, call to mind. — Meliboeus. a sheplicrd in 
Virgil's First Eclogue. The prose t;de c^f Melibceus is one of the Canterbury T.iles.— Soothest 
(A. S. fodh, truth), triiext ; most pleasing, — Severn (Lat. Sabrina) rises, in Wales, in a sinal! 
lake on the east side of Plinlimmon. It is 210 miles long.— Sabrina. It being the principai 
river in this part of England and not far from Ludlow Castle, there was a special propriety in 
summoning the goddess of this stream. The story of Sabrina is in Sackville's '■• Jliiror for 
Jli/r/istrates,''' Drayton's "■• Poltjolbion," and in the Second Book of " FairT/ Q>ieen." See also 
Fle'teh'T's " Fail/if III Shepherdess,'' which Milton evidently had before him in writing this 
part of Conuis.— Locrine. Anchises, of Trojan fame, was the father of ^neas ; ^neas, of As- 
canius ; Ascinius, of Silvias; Silviu^ of Brums; Brutus, of Locrine. See Milton's Translatiou 
from Oeoffrey of Monmontk ; also Milton's History of England, Book i. 

Dissemble, conceal, disguise, cloak, cover, pretend. Distinguish, etc. 



276 MASTERPIECES m E2iGLISR LITERA TURE. 

That had the sceptre from his father Brute. 
She, guiltless damsel, flyiug the mad jiursuit 

830. Of her enraged* stepdame, Guendolen, 

Commended her fair innocence to the flood, 
That stayed her flight with his cross-flowing course. 
The water-nymphs, that in the bottom played, 
Held up their pearled wrists and took her in. 
Bearing her straight to aged Nereus' hall ; 
Who, piteous of her woes, reared her lank head, 
And gave her to his daughters to imbathe 
In nectared lavers, strewed with asphodel ; 
And through the porch and inlet of each sense 

840. Drojit in ambrosial oils, till she revived 
And underwent a quick immortal change, 
Made goddess of the river. Still she retains 
Her maiden gentleness, and oft at eve 
Visits the herds along the twilight meadows, 
Helping all urchin blasts and ill-luck signs 
That the shrewd meddling elf delights to make ; 
Which she with precious vialled liquors heals. 
For which the shepherds, at their festivals, 
Carol her goodness loud in rustic lays, 

850. And throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream, 
Of pansies, pinks, and gaudy daffodils ; 
And, as the old swain said, she can unlock 
The clasping charm, and thaw the numbing spell, 
If she be right invoked in warbled song: 
For maideuliood she loves, and will be swift 
To aid a virgin, such as was herself. 
In hard-besetting need. This will I try, 
And add the power of some adjuring verse. 



Sabrina fair, 
860. Listen where thou art sitting 

* Enrag'ed. Trisyl-- -Guendolen, a divorced wife of Locrine. — Nereus, a i=ea deity, son 
of Pontus and Terra. In Homer he is j^tyled aAio; yipmv, "old man of the sea." Hesiod repre- 
sents him as distiiigiiialu'd for \vi.«dom, truth, peace, and justice. He married the ocean nymph 
Doris, and tlic Nereids are their daughters. -Lavers, lari;o basins for washinir. — Asphodel, 
a perennial plant with beautiful ilowera. — Helping', curing. — Urchin (Lat. eiicius. etinaceiix ; 
"Fr. herisson). T. VVarton remarks : '"The urchin or hedgehog, from its solitariness, tlie ugli- 
ness of its appearance, and from a popular opinion that it sucked or poisoned the ndders of 
cows, was adopted into the demonologic system ; and its shape was sometimes supposed to be 
assumed by mischievous elves." — Blasts, bligJUs (caused by mischievous spirits in the form of 
hedgehogs). Webster, in his dictionary, makes the singular blunder of defining the word i/rc/iin 
in tliis passage as meaning rorif/h, jmcking, piercinn. — Shrewd, tro'ihUmme. See be- in the 
Index.— Elf (A. S. df : Celtic Alp, a mountain ? Is .E'//'oriuriually a mountain spirit ?). a diminu- 
tive spirit, delisrhting'in mischievous tricks.— Vialled (*'i«/ is from Gr. <|)iaAT;, Lat.p/nala, abroad, 
flat, shallow cup), in a ri(?;.— Daffodils (Lat. and Gr. axphodeliis, VT.fleur d'asphodele).—Tha,vr, 
dissolve.— Higixt (A. S. riht; Ger. redd; Lat. rectus, straight, regere, to straighten), rightly. 

Meddling., interfering. Other synonymesf Differentiate, etc. 



JOHN MILTON. 277 

Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave, 

In twisted braids of lilies knitting* 
The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair. 
Listen, for dear honor's sake, 
Goddess of the silver lake ; 
Listen and save. 
Listen, and appear to us, 
In name of great Oceanus ! 
By the earth-shaking Neptune's mace, 
870. And Tethys' grave majestic pace; 
By hoary Nereus' wrinkled look. 
And the Carpathian wizard's hook; 
By scaly Triton's winding shell, 
And old soothsaying Glaucus' spell; 
By Leucothea's lovely hands. 
And her son that rules the strands; 
By Thetis' tinsel-sliiipered feet. 
And the songs of Sirens sweet ; 
By dead Parthenope's dear tomb, 
880. And fair Ligea's golden comb. 

Wherewith she sits on diamond rocks. 
Sleeking her soft alluring locks ; 
By all the nymphs that nightly dance 
Upon thy streams with \fi\j glance ; — 
Rise, rise, and heave thy rosy head 
From thy coral-paven bed, 

* Knitting:. Sea nymphs, mermaitt?, and the like, are often represented as braidina; and 
combing their locks. See, some eighteen or twenty lines below, Lir/ea. — Amber. "Amber, 
when applied to water, means a luminous clearness.'' T. Waiian. See amber, line 338 — Oceanus, 
the god of the ocean-stream, oft'spi-iugof Cmlm (Heaven) and Terra (Karth).— Earth-shaking-. 
Homer constantly gives this epitliet to Po-'eidon (Neptune). — Mace, a statT, borne i)y a magistrate 
or before him as an emblem of authority ; a sceptre. — Tethys, wife of Oceanus. These two 
were the happy parents of the Oceanides or ocean-nymphs, three thousand in number 1 — 
Nereus. Sec note on line 835.— Carpathian wizard, Proteus, a sea-deity, sou of Oceanus 
and Tethys, or as some say, of Neptune and Phceuice. He is called a wizard because he used 
to turn himself into manj' shapes. See note on his name in the AreopagUica, p. 238. He is 
called Carpathian from the island of Carpatlms, between Rhodes and Crete, with the Car- 
pathian sea in its vicinity. Jiii hook is his "sliepherd's crook;" for he tended the flocks of 
Neptune. Sae Virgil's Oeorgics, iv., 387, and following, — Triton, a sea-god, trumpeter of 
Neptune, son of Neptune and Amptiitrite. — Winding-, sounding with notes prolonged and 
mutually involved.— Shell (A. S. scell, scealu, scalu ; Dan. skal. a shell), a shell used as a 
musical instrument. See p. 2j8. — Glaucus, a sea-deity, much given to prophecy and sooth- 
saying. Some make him the same as Neptune; others, Neptune's son.— Leucothea (AevKo?, 
white ; Bed, goddess, the wliite goddess), the name borne by Ino, wile of Athanias, after she 
had leaped into the sea with her infant son, to escape from her insane husband, and had be- 
come a sea goddess. The child, whose name had been Melicerta, became a sea god with the 
name Palsemon. He and his mother were reputed kind to mariners, and were often invoked by 
them. — Thetis, one of the Nereids, wife of Peleus and mother of Achilles. — Parthenope, one 
of the sirens. She W'as cast upon the shore at Naples, which was anciently called Parthrnopc. 
— The siren Lig-ea (Gr. Aiyei'a, clear-voiced* is mentioned as a ivood-nymph in Virgil {Georgics 
IV., 336). Poe's lines will readily be recalled: — 

" Ligea ! Ligea ! 

My beautiful one, 
, Whose harshest idea 

Will to melody run." 

Translucent, transparent, pellucid. Other synonymes? Distinguish, etc. 
Moist, humid, damp, wet. Other synonymes ? Distinguish, etc. 



278 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITER A TTJRE. 

And bridle * in thy headlong wave, 
Till thou our summons answered have. 

Listen and save ! 

Sabrina rhes^ attended ty water-nympTis, and sings. 
890. By the rushy-fringed bank, 

Where grow the willow and the osier dank. 

My sliding chariot stays, 
Thick set with agate and the azure sheen 
Of Turkis blue, and emerald green, 

That in the channel strays ; 
Whilst from off the waters fleet, 
Thus I set my printless feet 
O'er the cowslip's velvet head, 
That bends not as I tread. 
900, Gentle swain, at thy request, 
I am here. 
S2nr. Goddess dear, 
We implore thy powerful hand 
To undo tlie charmed band 
Of true virgin, here distressed 
Through the force and through the wile 
Of unblessed enchanter vile. 

Salr. Shepherd, 'tis my office best 
To help ensnared chastity. 
Brightest lady, look on me. 
910. Thus I sjirinkle on thy breast 

Drops, that, from my fountain pure, 
I have" kept, of precious cure ; 
Thrice upon thy fingers tip. 
Thrice upon thy rubied lip: 
Next, this marble venomed seat. 
Smeared with gums of glutinous heat, 
I touch with chaste palms, moist and cold. 
Now the spell hath lost its hold, 
920. And I must haste, ere morning hour, 
To wait in AmjDhitrite's bower. 

Sabrina descends^ and the Lady rises out of her seat. 

Spir. Virgin, daughter of Locrine, 

Sprung of old Anchises' line, 

May thy brimmed waves, for this, 

* Bridle. Sec line 825.— Sheen, bri'ihtness So in line 1003. and in tlie Ihmn on the Nativ- 
ity, Btanz:i 15.— Turkis, turqiinis, a Persian mineral of a Miiisli-urren color and esteejiied pre- 
cious. Its color wa- supposed to change wiih the health of the wearer.— Liook on me. See 
Acts lii., 4.— Amphitrite, daujrhter of Nereus and Doris. She was wile of Neptuue.— 
Danghter, etc. See uutes on lines 825, 820. 



JOHK MILTON. 279 

Their full tribute never miss 

From a tliousand petty rills, 

That tumble down the snowy hills: 

Summer drought, or singed air, 

jSTever scorch thy tresses fair ; 
930. Nor wet October's torrent* flood 

Thy molten crystal fill with mud. 

May thy billows roll ashore 

The beryl and the golden ore; 

May thy lofty head be crowned 

With many a tower and terrace round. 

And here and there, thy banks upon. 

With groves of myrrh and cinnamon ! 

Come, lady, while Heaven lends us grace, 

Let us fly this cursed place, 
940. Lest the sorcerer us entice 

With some other new device. 

Not a waste or needless sound. 

Till we come to holier ground. 

I shall be your faithful guide 

Through this gloomy covert wide ; 

And not many furlongs thence 

Is your father's residence. 

Where this night are met in state 

Many a friend to gratulate 
950. His wished presence ; and, beside, 

All the swains, that there abide, 

With jigs and rural dance resort. 

We shall catch them at their sport. 

And our sudden coming there 

Will double all their mirth and cheer. 

Come, let us haste: tlie stars grow high. 

But night sits monarch yet in the mid sky. 

The scene changes^ presenting Ludlow town and tJie President's castle ; then 
come in., country dancers; after tliem^ the attendant Spirit, icitli the Two 
BRoinEKS and the Lady. 

SONO. 

Spir. Back, shepherds, back. Enough your play 

Till next sun-shine holiday. 

» —^-^—^-^———~^——— 

* Torrent (A. !S. feran, tcer, iof'fi, te:ir. tore, torn : Moeso-Goth. tairan ; Gcr. eerrtn ; W. 
torn, to bn'iik), tearing, rnpicUy lolliiiir or rushin<j.i — Be crowned. >Iilton perhaps has in 
mind thu "tiirreted Cybcle " of the clast^ics.— Jigs, lis;lit, brisk, mnsicat movements!; also 
frolicsome dances to such mnsic. From Fr. gigue, a dance, tune, romp ; Ger. geigen, to fiddle). 

Petty, trifling, trivial, frivolous, futile, lillle. Other synonymes? Distinguish, etc. 

> I venture to dissent from the com non etymoloscy, which derives this word from iorrere, 
'.o parch or scorch. See, however, tlie unabridged dictionaries. 



280 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITER A TURE. 

960. Here be,* without duck or nod, 
Other trippings to be trod 
Of lighter toes, and such court guise 
As Mercury did first devise 
With the mincing Dryades, 
On the lawns and on the leas. 

Tliis second Song j^resents them to their Father and Mother. 
Noble lord, and lady bright, 
I have brought ye new delight. 
Here behold so goodly grown 
Three fair branches of your own. 
970. Heaven hath timely tried their youth, 

Their faith, their patience, and their truth ; 
And sent them here, through hard assays, 
AVith a crown of deathless praise. 
To triumph in victorious dance. 
O'er sensual folly and intemperance. 

The dances teing ended, the Spirit epilogises. 

Spir. To the ocean now I fly, 

And those happy climes that lie 

Where day never shuts his eye 

Up in the broad fields of the sky ! 

980. There I suck the liquid air. 

All amidst the gardens fair 

Of Hesperus, and his daughters three 

That sing about the golden tree. 

Along the crisped shades and bowers 

Revels the spruce and jocund Spring, 

The Graces and the ros3r-bosomed Hours 

Thither all their bounties bring: 

There eternal Summer dwells. 

And west winds, with musky wing, 

990. About the ccdarn alleys fling 

- Nard and cassia's balmy smells : 

Iris there, with humid bow. 

Waters the odorous banks, tliat blow 

* Here be, etc.. here are. Of'rdi in Shakespeare and the Bible we have be for are. See 
Abbott's Sliakcf^jieaf'ian Grammar, 300.— Duck or nod. These words allude to the awkward- 
ness of the rustics in danciiii;.— Mercury. See tiote on Hennes. line ()3~.— Mincing-, stepping 
short pretty steps. See Diet. — Dryades (ApO;, a tree), nymphs of the trees and woods. — 
Hesperus. See note on line 3!i:^. There are several versions of the story of Hesperus. Milton 
follows partly the accoutit of Diodorus. See the Classical Dictionaries.— Crisped, curled, 
twisted, wreathed, interwoven.— Graces. See Spenser's EpWialamlnm. sixth stanza. " They 
were an resthetic conception of all that is beautiful and attractive in the physical as well as in 
the social world." — Hours. See notes on Hours and handmaids, p. 73. — Iris. See p. 254.— 
Blow, cause to blossom. 

Joaind, lively, s^mghtly, vivacious, spoi-iive, men-y^ jolly, lively. Other synonymes? Dis- 
criminate, etc. 



JOHN MILTON. 281 



Flowers of more mingled hue 
Than her purfled* scarf can shew ; 
And drenches with Elysiau dew 
(List, mortals, if your ears be true) 
Beds of hyacinths and roses, 
Where young Adonis oft reposes, 

1000. Waxing well of his deep wound 

In slumber soft ; and on the gi'ound 
Sadly sits the Assyrian queen : 
But far above, in spangled sheen. 
Celestial Cupid, her famed son, advanced, 
Holds liis dear Psyche sweet entranced, 
After her wandering labors long. 
Till free consent the gods among 
Make her his eternal bride ; 
And from her fail" unspotted side 

1010. Two blissful twins are to be born, 

Youth and Joy : so Jove hath sworn. 
But now my task is smoothly done, 
I can fly, or I can run. 
Quickly to the green earth's end, 
Where the bowed welkin slow doth bend, 
And from thence can soar as soon 
_To the corners of the moon. 
! Mortals, that would follow me, 
iiOve virtue : she alone is free. 
She can teach ye how to climb 

1020. Higher than the sphcry chime ; 
Oi*, if virtue feeble were, 
Heaven itself would stoop to her. 



* Ptirfled (Old Fr. pourjiler; pour, for ; fll. Lnt.Jilum, threarl ; Ital. profllare, to erabroiaer), 
with flowcivd border; embroidered. — Scarf, the rainbow. — Elysian. See note on line 257. 
^Adonis, etc. See Thamnvtz, p. 240. i>ee Fairy Queen, Book iii. : Canto vi., 40. Adonis 
was famed for liis beauty. Ho was frreatly beloved by Veniiis, who used to entreat him not to 
expose liimself to the dangers of the chase. At last be lost his life by tlie tusk of a wild boar. — 
Assyrian queen, Venus. '•There is no other of the Olympians of whom tlie foreign origin 
is so proliable as tliis goddess, and slie is generally regarded as being the same witli the Astarte 
(Isbtar) of the Phoenicians."— Psyche. See Faiiij Queen., Book iii. ; Canto vi., st. 50, .51. Tlie 
legend or allegory of Cupid and Psyche is one of tlie most beautiful of ancient mylhology. The 
story is charniingly told in Biilflnch's Ar/e of Fable. " The Greek name for a butterfly is Psj'cbe, 
and tlie same word means the soid. Perhaps there is no illustration of the imnuirtality of the 
eoiil more striking and beautiful than that furni.^hed by the butterfly, bursting on brilliant 
wings from the tomb in whicli it has lain, after a dull, grovelling. cater|)"illar existence, to flutter 
in the blaze of day and feed on-the most Iragrant and delicate productions of the spring. 
Psyclie, tlien, is the human soul, which is purified by sufferings and misfortunes, and is thus 
prepared for the enjoyment of true and puie happiness." — "Welkin (A. S. ivo/cen, cloud, sky), 
the vault of heaven, the sky. Bowed welkin, " a curve wliich liends, or descends .slowly from 
its great sweep." Clevelaud. — Sphery chime, the music of the splieres. See note on C7'y.ilal 
spheres in Hymn, on Vie Naiivilij, p. 24".— Stoop, etc. The moral of this elegant poem is 
summed up with exquisite felicity in these concluding lines. Well does Eiuersou pronounce 
Comus •' the loftiest poem in praise of female purity in any language." 



Virtue, chastity, purity. Other synonymcs ? Distinguish, etc. 



282 MASTERPIECES 12^ ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

Write out the story of Comun. To what extent was Milton indebted to Fletcher and other 
poets for the plan or leading thoughts 1 What can you say of the sijccies of composition called 
Mmques f Point out the beauties or blemishes in this poem. Write out a statcmaiit of the 
orgin and the exhibition of this Masque. It is the fashion witli modern critics, Taine, Fronde, 
White, and others, to disparage and even censure the appearance of .anj' didactic purpose in a 
poem ; to count it a blemish ; and to regard as a great merit the fact that a poet is careless of the 
moral lesson his work conveys. Try Coimis l)y this standard, and write your views of such a cri- 
terion. Is it, matter of commendation in Sliakespeare tliat he "carries his persons indifferently 
througli right and wrons; ? " Write an essay on Milton's l)oyhood and youth ; one on him as a 
politician ; as a reformer ; as a poet ; one on his bliudni'ss ; on his marriages ; on his place in 
Eiiijlish literature ; on Milton as a schoolmaster ; on Paradise LoH ; on his imitators. Compare 
Shakespeare's originality as an author with that of Milton. What sacrifices of taste and in- 
clination did Milton make in joining the Puritans? What intimations does he give in youth 
or early manhood, of his intention to write a great poem ? (Tliese themes for essays are in- 
tended as suggestions to teachers, who sliould be fertile in devising and ingenious in selecting 
others. The -•■tudent sliould be encouraged especially lo rely on his own investigations and not 
to accept facts or principles at second-hand.) 



THE 



MASK OF COMUS. 



JOHN MILTON. 



EDITED WITH COPIOUS EXPLANATORY NOTES, AND WITH 

EXERCISES IN SYNONTMES, FOR THE USE OP CLASSES 

IN READING, ANALYSIS, AND PARSING, 

BY 

HOMER B. SPRAGUE, A.M., Ph.D., 

Latk Pkincipai. op thb Adhxphi Academy, and foembklt Pbofi:8BOR or Bhxtobio 

IH COBNBLL UmVBBSITT. 



NEW YORK: 

J. W. Schermerhorn & Co., 

No. 14 Bond Steeet. 
1876. 



THE NEW ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

WHITNEY'S 

"Elements of English Grammar." 



Many of the best Teachers have long felt assured that the essentials of grammar 
could be embodied in a clear and concise form, which shall impart as correct and 
thorough a knowledge of grammatical principles, and lead to as great proficiency in 
their application as do the larger and more pretentious text-books now in use. 
Believing that this end is attained in Whitney's " Elements of English Grammar," we 
invite attention to the following statement of its character and claims. 

First, the aim of the book : — To teach clearly how to express one's self in 
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2. The exclusion of extraneous matter. The one end aimed at is kept 
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etc. The book treats closely yet lucidly of the nature of words, the relations they 
sustain to one another, and the principles and laws that regulate their combination in 
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3. Practicalness. As the end sought is the practical one of aiding a pupil to 
an expression of his thoughts in language conformed to correct usage, and sustained by 
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corresponding nature. While shunning the namby-pamby, prolix, milk-and-water 
style of some who write for the young, the author has adapted his language to the 
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an easy task. 

The knowledge and progress of the pupil are constantly tested by questions, 
repeated exercises, and reviews, which tend to fix as well as test what he has learned. 

Secondly, the points of excellence claimed. These are too numerous to be 
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unsatisfactorily explained, or altogether falsely treated. Among the latter may 
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rule for writing it ; the treatment of the words that and there, in sentences like " I 
heard that you were ill," " There was no one in the room " ; the distinctions between 
mine and my, theirs and their, none and no, etc. ; the comparison of adjectives ; pro- 
nominal adjectives ; tenses ; the subjunctive mood ; defective verbs ; the conjugation 
of verbs; the supplementing of verbs with adjectives and participles; prepositional 
phrases ; important distinctions in the uses of certain words. 

The work is not a re-hash of the old grammars, nor a mere novelty, but something 
deserving of unbiassed and careful consideration. We believe it to be just what will 
supply the want long felt in this department of instruction. It is the result of years of 
study and experience, and it has been put to the test in the school-room. 

It contains i6o pages, bound in limp cloth, price $o 45 

' Specimen copy for examination will be mailed for 25 cents., 



J. W. Schermerhorn & Co., (Pzibiishers, 

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Masterpieces in English Literature. 

" You eatinot read everything : read, then, the best.** 

By PROFESSOR HOMER B. SPRAGUE, A.M.. 

pKiNCiPAii OP Adelphi Acadejit, Brooklyn, late Professor of Rhetoric and English Liteba. 

TURE m Cornell Universitv, and formerlt Principal of the 

Connecticut State Normal School. 

Tliia work presents those productions of genius wliicli are tlie glory of our 
literature, and of whicli it is a sliame to be ignorant. Nothing more stimulating 
or more healthful can be found in any language. Copious explanatory notes 
make the reading easy and delightful. A sketch of each author's life and works 
is given. 

These brilliant and powerful productions are made the basis of study. To this 
end, a brief statement of the genealogy and development of the English language is 
prefixed, and, by a kind of object-teaching, these masterpieces are made to furnish 
the basis and materials for investigation in language, rhetoric, and litera- 
ture. Chaucer's exquisite tale of Patient Griselda, and Spenser's Epithal.-v- 
MIDM are utilized in supplying matter for phonetic and etymological research. 
Bacon's Essays are made to afford lessons in grammatical equivalents. Shakes- 
peare's majestic tragedy of Macbeth gives opportunity, too good to be lost, for 
thorough elocutionary analysis. So Milton's Aeeopagitica, in which " every 
word leaps with intellectual life," his Masque op Comus, "the loftiest poem in 
praise of female purity in any language," and his "Hymn on the Nativity," 
pronounced by Hallam "the finest ode" in our tongue, furnish drill in .synony- 
mes ; and, lastly, the greatest of allegories, the first part of Bunyan's Pilgrim's 
Progress, yields studies in syntactical analysis and comparative philology. 

Among the original features of this work may be named the following : 

1. It contains acknowledged Masterpieces only. 

2. It exhibits the author himself, rather than fine talk about him. 

3. It gives complete works, not scraps, chips and mutilated /ra^men^s. 

4. It has clear, copious and multitudinous explanatory notes. 

5. It continually assigns for study and for essays topics whose discussion will 

throw light ujx)n the subject and the man. 

6. It constantly stimulates to original investigation and independent thought. 

7. By analysis of brilliant passages, it deduces the principles of vocal expres- 

sions, laying a scientific basis for oral reading and public speaking. 

8. It contains, at the close of successive extracts, comprehensive summaries. 

9. Accompanying and often elucidating the best works of the best authors, it 
gives continuous, progressive, and systematic lessons in the study of English 
language ; also, 

10. An index to some two thousand words and topics treated of in the foot-notes. 

The work contains 430 pages, on fine paper, bound in extra cloth. Price, $2.25. 

Teachers wanting a copy for examination, with a view to introduction, may obtain it, 
prepaid by mail, for $1.50. Fir^t lot for class use, by express, $1.50 each. 

N. B.— For students desirino; to pursue a more extended covri^e in English literature and language, 
Prof. Sprague will publish additional works. Another is already in a forward state of preparation, 
and will be ready for classes completing the above. It is to contain among other famous pieces, 
Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice ; Milton's Ltcidas, L'Allegro and II Penseroso ; Addison » 
Roger dk Cgveri.t "apbrs complete ; Goldsmith's Deserted Village ; Coleridge's GENUravB 
and Ancient Mawner ; Bums' Ta»< o'Shanter and Cottar's Saturday Night ; Gray's Bakd 
and PBOGREsa of Poesy, and Macauiay's Essay on Milton. 

J. W. Schermerhorn & Co., (Pudlishers, 

14 Bond Street, New York^ 
^TESTmONY ON NEXT PAGES. 



"SCHOOL MATERIAL" 

The New Manual of School Material, SOth Edition, contains nearly 200 pages, 
and over 300 illustrations, printed on fine colored paper, bound in Manilla. 

DniAA vmnilorl OK f^ie /When orders amounting to $5.00 are made\ 
r I lUCj iTIallvU; i>w V/lS< V from its pages, its price will be remitted. / 

It Represents : 

ALL MODERN AIDS FOR THE SCHOOLROOM— Apparatus for Physical Educa- 
tion ; for Object-Teaching, &c., &c., &c. 

BLACK-BOARDS, Black-Board Cloth, Black-Board Rubbers, Books, Book-Cases, Book- 
Shelves, Bells, Ac, <fcc. 

CHAIRS FOR TEACHERS, Pupils, and Libraries— 30 kinds ; Charts on Anatomy, Astron- 
omy, Botany, Chemistry, Drawing, etc. ; Clocks, Color-Cubes, Compasses, Cubes, &c. 

DESKS FOR PUPILS— 17 kinds ; Desks for Teachers and School-Officers- 30 kinds ; DIb- 
sected Blocks ; Drawing Materials of all kinds. 

EASELS, Envelopes, Erasable Tablets, Erasers, Eureka Wjdl-Slates, Eureka Liquid Slating, 
Exercise-Books, &c. 

FORMS AND SOLIDS, French School-Bags, Folding Lunch-Boxes, furniture for every 
possible School use. 

^ LOBES — ALL KINDS ; Globe Clocks ; Geometrical Forms ; Gymnastic Ajiparatus— Dumb- 
[t Bells. Hand-Rings, Indian Clubs, Wands, &c. 

•ONOR-ROLLS, OR SCHOOL INDEXES, H^-seshoe Magnets, Hydrometers. 



H' 



INK, Ink-stands, Ink- vents, Ink-wells of many kinds, made of Brass, Britannia and Iron, and at 
all prices. 

JOHNSON'S INDESTRUCTIBLE CHARTS— Alphabetical, Mechanical, Philosophical, 
Astronomical, &c. ; Johormofs School-Houses. 

KINDER-GARTEN APPARATUS— all kinds, for Home and School Amusement and 
Instruction ; Kendall's Book-Easels, &c. 



M 



EAD PENCILS; Letter Clips; Library of Education; Library Cases, Chairs and Tables ; 
J Linen Provers, &c. 

AQIC LANTERNS, Magnets, Magnifjring Glasses, Mathematical Instruments, Maps, 

Medals, Microscopes, Ac. 



illiPATURAL HISTORY CHARTS AND PRINTS— in very great variety, American 
|\| and imported ; Numeral Frames — 3 sizes. 

OBJECT-TEACHING AIDS; Object-Teaching Apparatus; Office Baskets; Organs; 
Orreries. 

PAPER, Pens, Pen-holders, Pencils, Pencil-holders, Pencil-files, Planetaritims, Planispheres, 
Prisms, Programme Clocks, &c. 



E 



EADING-GLASSES, Reading-Stands ; Record-Books ; Rewards ; Rogers' School Groups ; 
Rulers of several sizes, marked to eighths of inches. 



SCHOOL-BAGS ; Settees ; Shades ; Slates, SL *e-Rubbers ; Song-Rolls ; School Stationery of 
every name and kind. 

fiTCEACHERS' CHAIRS— 30 kinds; Teachers' Desks— many kinds ; TeUurions, Thermometers. 

VOCAL MUSIC BOOKS— the Diadem Series, the Polytechnic, the Athenaeum and the 
Oriental ; Views for Magic Lanterns ; Visitors' Record-Books. 

WRITING-BOOKS, and Writing Materials of aU kinds ; Word Cards, for Object- 
Teaching. 

YANKEE BUILDING BLOOKS— for the Kinder-Garten, 64 in set. 
O. ALL THINGS REQUISITE FOR SCHOOLS OP ALL GRADES— 
Gw except rattans and "Capacities" for the pupils. 

J. W. Schermerhorn & Co., Manufaaurers, 

H Bond street^ New York, 









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